A LARGE INSCRIBED POLYCHROME ZITAN FIGURE OF MILAREPA TIBET, 16TH – 17TH CENTURY |

There are minor bruises and chips to the edges. Typical age cracks throughout. General rubbing and loss to the gilt-lacquer painting, and the inscription on the reverse. The right foot has been broken off and refixed. There are new wood pins used to connect the figure to the base.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This large and boldly carved sculpture depicts the Tibetan saint and poet Milarepa (1052-1135). The style closely relates to a figure of Atisha in the Rubin Museum of Art, New York, C203.12.6, which shares the same intricate design on the robes. The inscription reads: “The factors conducive to enlightenment

Rise above the darkness [of ignorance] like the sun”,

Thus said Joy-to-Hear (Milarepa)

I pay homage to thee Noble One.

May this be virtuous!".

༄༅༅།།བྱང་ཕྱོགས་མུན་པའི་སྨགས་རུམ་ནས།།

གང་ལ་ཉི་མ་འཆར་བ་བཞིན།།

ཐོས་པ་དགའ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་དེ།།    བསྐྱེས་ཁྱེད་

ལ་ཕྱག་འཚལ་ལོ།།    དགེ་འོ།།