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 patchwork robe over a sleeveless jacket, dhonka, both with engraved floral patterned hems and borders, his hands in dharmachakra mudra, with the master seated in vajraparyankasana on a separately cast lotus pedestal with a finely engraved Tibetan inscription around the lower rim.

Inscription:                   

Mkhyen pa'i chos spyan kun la gsal/

Brtse bas dam chos dga' ston 'gyed

Phrin las bzang po 'gro kun gyi

'dren pa mchog la gus pas 'dud/

rGyal tshab kun dga' dbang phyug pa'i/

Thugs dgongs rdzogs phyir rje yi sku/

Sa skyong A yi seng ge'i bkas

Legs gnang bzo rig gtsug gtor lags//

Mangalam

Homage: He who sees all (kun) with the eye of wisdom and understanding, he who teaches the holy dharma of happiness (dga') because of his compassion, I bow with reverence to the best guide of all beings, he of the noble (bzang po) ritual acts. This image of rGyal tshab Kun dga' dbang phyug is made to honor his memory at the request of Sa skyong A yi Seng ge by the good sculptor gTsug gtor lags. Blessings.

As in the companion bronze to this statue, lot 306, the inscription commemorates the fourth abbot of Ngor monastery rGyal tshab kun dga' dbang phyug (Gyaltshap Kunga Wangchuk). The inscriptions are quite similar on both statues and this one also contains a hidden reference to his uncle, the founder of Ngor monastery, Ngor Chen Kunga Zangpo. The memory of Ngor Chen is thus honoured simultaneously in Gyaltshap Kunga Wangchuk's commemorative statue. This portrait captures the spirit of the man, the lama who died in Mustang, far from his home monastery of Ngor. He is shown wearing his patchwork robe, his everyday monk's attire, and with an idiosyncratic and engaging human expression, in some contrast to the otherworldly countenance of the companion portrait bronze, lot 306. Gyaltshap Kunga Wangchuk had travelled to Mustang once before when he accompanied his uncle Ngor Chen in 1447. He returned to Tibet eleven years later and was made abbot of Ngor in 1465. His second journey to Mustang was made in 1476 and he died there two years later. Sakyong Ayi Senge, a prince of the local Mustang royal family who probably knew the Lama well, paid Tsugtor the sculptor to make these portraits, that may just be the 'golden statues' that are mentioned in the lama's biography as having been created for his memorial ceremonies in Mustang in 1479.