Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Works of Art
Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Works of Art
OTHER PROPERTIES
A GILT COPPER FIGURE OF DROKMI LOTSAWA SHAKYA YESHE, TIBET, 15TH CENTURY
Auction Closed
September 22, 07:46 PM GMT
Estimate
12,000 - 18,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
OTHER PROPERTIES
A GILT COPPER FIGURE OF DROKMI LOTSAWA SHAKYA YESHE
TIBET, 15TH CENTURY
Height 7 ¼ in. (18.4 cm)
the lama seated in dhyanasana, with the right arm raised in vitakra mudra, the left hand lowered in varada mudra, the hair closely cropped, the full lips drawn up into a serene smile, the body clothed in a floral bordered sanghati draped over the left shoulder and cascading in folds over the edge of the base, raised on a double lotus beaded base incised with a Tibetan inscription
Himalayan Art Resources item no. 13745.
Private European Collection
Being the upholder of a treasury of precious teachings,
He fulfills the desires of those to be trained.
Compassionate translator, I pay homage to Shakya Yeshé.
I, Pälden Dren, pay homage to the eighth lama of the Lamdré lineage, the great master Drokmi, and request his blessings. May this be auspicious!
The inscription around the lower rim of the base identifies this portrait as Drokmi Lotsawa Shakya Yeshe (992/3–1043/72), an eleventh century Buddhist master and translator. Drokmi Lotsawa was known for translating nearly seventy tantric texts from Sanskrit, having studied intensively in India and Nepal. He was both a student and teacher of the Lamdre teachings, a Sakya hallmark and specialization, of which the inscription of this portrait indicates.
The portrait is exquisitely cast rendering the features with hints of naturalism. The hands and feet have the quality of flesh in their pliability and delicate gesturing. The robes curve around the body with weight and movement. Comparing it to another portrait of a Lamdre Lineage master, Drakpa Gyaltsen, from the 15th Century, illustrated in A.M. and F. Rossi, Homage to the Holy: Portraits of Tibet's Spiritual Teachers, exh. cat., London, November, 6-28, 2003, cat. 20, both portraits draw distinctions in texture between the flesh and the garments. The lips in both portraits are not gilded, leaving the red copper of the cast exposed and producing a more realistic tonal effect. The robes wrapping around the legs in undulating folds is similarly treated and both portraits show wide incised hems with a like foliate motif.