A large gilt-copper alloy stupa, Tibet, 15th century

David Weldon and Jane Casey Singer, The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet: Buddhist Art in the Nyingjei Lam Collection, London, 1999, pl. 26.

Karl Debreczeny, 'Wutai Shan: Pilgrimage to Five-Peak Mountain', Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, issue 6 , 2011, cat. no. 7.

The Nyingjei Lam stūpa (T. chörten) is of a type said to correspond to a monument erected at Varanasi, which celebrated the Buddha’s first sermon at the Deer Park. The tiers at the center of this four-sided gilt-copper example contain multiple doorways and are faced with two-storied projecting arches on each side, all supported on a tall tapering platform resting on a lotus petal base. The dome (anda) is decorated with jeweled swags inset with gems. The parapet (harmika) above supports a spire of thirteen discs (chattra) surmounted by a gem-set canopy. The form of the stūpa corresponds to the model known as tashi gomang, ‘auspicious [chörten] with many doors’. According to traditional accounts, all Tibetan chörten are derived from the eight types of Indian stupa built to commemorate the eight great events in the life of the Buddha. The architectural details of the stūpa represent metaphysical principles of the Buddhist faith, symbolizing in particular the Buddha’s enlightened mind.

Perhaps the most famous Tibetan monuments in this complex multi-door format are the Kumbum of Gyantse, built around 1442 and the monument at Riwoche completed in 1456. A similar fifteenth century date may be attributed to this rare gilded copper example from the Nyingjei Lam Collection.

佛塔（藏語稱「曲登」）形制演變自印度墳塚，初為安置佛祖真身舍利而造。印度佛塔原分八類，紀念佛祖生平八大事蹟，據西藏文獻記載，各式曲登無不溯源於此。慈悲道所藏曲登承襲瓦拉納西佛塔制式，稱揚佛祖於鹿野苑初轉法輪。曲登可存放高僧大德真身舍利，且寓佛法於築造細節，尤作三業中「意」之象徵，亦受供奉。

塔基拔地而起，基頂作蓮花座，托三層屋宇次第縮小，呈金字塔狀；各側中央牆體突出，分作兩層，下層設門，通往內室；八扇開口，或窗或門，均佈各側。屋宇之上見穹狀塔身，垂綴瓔珞，鑲嵌珠寶。穹頂圍欄，聳立十三級尖塔，塔頂作華蓋，華蓋頂尖稍有缺損。

曲登建築之遞演仍有待研究，然西藏曲登無論小大，皆數量眾多，是為無疑。遇大曲登，信眾作禮圍繞，更有曲登內設龕堂，塑畫佛菩薩形象。此尊微型曲登或以江孜白居寺十萬佛塔為藍本縮略而來，該十萬佛塔約於1442年落成；此尊曲登與白居寺十萬佛塔同為吉祥多門塔式。