Gyaltshap Kunga Wangchuk gilt copper Tibet

The finely cast portrait bronze representing the fourth abbot of Ngor monastery, Gyaltshap Kunga Wangchuk (1424-1478) wearing a flowing robe over a sleeveless jacket, dhonka, two flowers at the shoulder bearing the emblems of Manjushri, the khadga, now missing, and the prajnaparamita sutra, with the master seated in vajraparyankasana on a separately cast lotus pedestal with a finely engraved Tibetan inscription around the lower rim.

Inscription:                   

Shes bya kun la blo gros can/

Gcig tu gzhan don la dga' ba/

Rgyal sras mtshan dpe'i dpal gyis mdzes/

Pan chen bzang po'i zhabs pad 'dud/

Rgyal tshab kun dga' dbang phyug pa'i/

Thugs dgongs rdzogs phyir pan chen sku/

Sa skyong a yi seng ge bkas/

Lags (sic: legs) gnang bzo rig gtsug gtor lags//

Man ga lam//

Homage. He who has astute complete (kun) knowledge, who delights (dga') in the practise of altruism I bow at the feet of the noble (bzang po) Panchen, who exemplifies beauty and glory as the son of the Buddha. This statue is dedicated to the memory of rGyal tshab Kun dga' dbang phyug. It was made at the request of Sa skyong A yi Seng ge, by the good sculptor gTsug gtor lags. Blessings.

rGyal tshab Kun dga' dbang phyug (Gyaltshap Kunga Wangchuk) identified in the inscription, was the fourth abbot of the important Sakya order monastery of Ngor, founded in 1429 by Kunga Zangpo (1382-1456). The memorial verse includes a hidden reference to Kunga Zangpo who initiated his nephew Gyaltshap Kunga Wangchuk as a monk at the age of thirteen. The inscription thus honours the founder of the monastery while commemorating the fourth abbot. The principal memorial ceremony occurs on the first anniversary of a lama's passing, thus suggesting 1479 as a probable date for the sculpture. Stylistic evidence corroborates this dating. To a great extent inspiration is drawn from the early fifteenth century sculpture of the Yongle period (1403-1424) that would have been well known to the sculptor Tsugtor, many such works having been offered to Tibetan monasteries as imperial gifts. The manner in which the loosely draped robe falls in deep folds across the body and legs is typical of Yongle sculpture, cf. the Speelman Buddha Vajrasana, see Visions of Enlightenment, The Speelman Collection of Important Early Ming Buddhist Bronzes, Sotheby's, Hong Kong, October 7, 2006, lot 808. Furthermore a wide fold of cloth falls from the left shoulder in a sheer plane, catching the eye as a flat expanse in a mass of movement, just as seen in Yongle sculpture such as the Speelman Yongle Buddha. Full and rounded pearls encircle the lotus pedestal in the manner seen in the majority of Yongle bronzes. The engraved textile patterns of the sleeveless jacket depict the designs of the Chinese brocades from which these patchwork jackets are traditionally made. The engraving technique is not found in the Yongle oeuvre but is a popular decorative device in Tibetan fifteenth century bronzes, cf. a finely worked fifteenth century portrait bronze of the Tibetan translator Brogmi, see Ulrich on Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, 2001, p. 1073, pl. 276C.