A silver and copper-inlaid copper alloy figure of Padampa Sanggye, Tibet, 15th / 16th century | 十五 / 十六世紀 藏傳銅合金錯銀銅當巴桑傑大師坐像

Collection of Alice and Nasli Heeramaneck.

Sotheby’s London, 10th March 1986, lot 122.

Collection of Raymond Cheven (1928-2011).

Sotheby's New York, 20th September 2021, lot 337.

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Alice及Nasli Heeramaneck伉儷珍藏

倫敦蘇富比，1986年3月10日，編號122

Raymond Cheven (1928-2011)收藏

紐約蘇富比，2021年9月20日，編號337

The present figure of Indian yogin Padampa Sanggye (d. 1117) has been moulded with his characteristic goatee, moustache, and head of curls. He wears a loose robe over his naked torso and a copper-inlaid meditation strap (yogapatta) draped across the chest; his right hand extending in a gesture of debate (vitarka mudra) and his left holding a skull bowl (kapala) and his eyes inlaid with silver, copper, and black pitch. Seated with crossed ankles on an antelope skin draped over a lotus pedestal, the present figure's posture is a common characteristic of Padampa Sanggye, who is sometimes portrayed with knees raised and held in place by a yogapatta band, and often with his robe covering the legs. Here the knees are lowered, and the unused meditation band is looped around his body. Compare a related fifteenth or sixteenth century silver and copper inlaid bronze Milarepa in the Speelman Collection, sold at Bonhams Hong Kong, 5 May 2025, lot 105.

Padampa Sanggye is revered as a great teacher in Tibet where he travelled after the death of his compatriot Atisha in 1054, and on a number of subsequent occasions. He was a contemporary of Milarepa (1040-1123) and they are said to have met. Some reports suggest that he taught the tantric practice of chod to the renowned Tibetan female practitioner Machik Labdron (1055-1149).