A GILT BRONZE FIGURE OF SAKYA PANDITA

TIBET, 15TH CENTURY

Details

A GILT BRONZE FIGURE OF SAKYA PANDITA
TIBET, 15TH CENTURY
Seated in dhyanasana over a double-lotus base with beaded rims, his hands in dharmachakramudra and holding lotus stems supporting a sword and a manuscript inlaid with lapis lazuli, wearing a patchwork robe with an incised border, over a patterned vest, his meditative expression with slightly parted lips, straight nose, and elongated eyes with arched eyebrows, surmounted by a close-fitting cap with long lappets
9 ¼ in. (23.5 cm.) high

Provenance

Private collection, London, acquired in 2007

Literature

Himalayan Art Resource (himalayanart.org), item no. 23953
Rossi and Rossi, Homage to the Holy – Portraits of Tibet’s Spiritual Teachers, 2003, fig. 22

Exhibited

Homage to the Holy – Portraits of Tibet’s Spiritual Teachers, London, November 2003

Sale room notice

Please note the correct estimate for this lot is $60,000-80,000.

Brought to you by

Sandhya Jain-Patel

sjain-patel@christies.com +1 212 636 2162

Lot Essay

Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyaltsen (1182-1251) is counted as the fourth of the Five Patriarchs of the Sakya order of Tibetan Buddhism. Also known as Sa-pan, he was the principal disciple of his uncle, the great Buddhist master Drakpa Gyaltsen. Sa-pan took full ordination with Shakya Shri Bhadra in 1208, who trained him in the complete monastic education of the great Indian monasteries of the period. Based on this education, Sa-pan was instrumental in transmitting the Indian system of ten major and ten minor sciences to Tibet. In 1247, he was ordained as regent of Tibet by the dominant Mongol chieftains.

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