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Lot Essay
Padmasambhava (literally ‘lotus-born’ in Sanskrit), also known as Guru Rinpoche among Tibetans, is believed to be one of the principal masters to bring Buddhism to Tibet and to teach the tantras in the 8th century. He is depicted in numerous forms with different names representing outer, inner and secret aspects of his spiritual being, with the change of names following the chronology of his life story. In the 5th century B.C., Buddha Shakyamuni arrived as the founder of Buddhism. His teachings were subsumed by the Sutrayana and the Tantryana. In the 8th century, Padmasambhava personified the guru principle, the ritualistic path of Buddhism and the heart of Vajrayana Buddhism. They are exemplified in its flourishing after it was introduced into Tibet and the Himalayas between the 7th and 11th centuries. Because of Padmasanbhava’s teachings and contribution, he is known as the ‘Second Buddha’.
Compare the present figure with a closely related Padmasambhava, dated to the second half of the 15th century and formerly in the Zimmerman Family Collection, with copper and silver inlay and the same seriously gazing eyes and delicate modelling of the features and ornaments, illustrated in Marylin M. Rhie and Robert A. F. Thurman, Wisdom and Compassion: The Sacred Art of Tibet, New York, 1991, pp. 172-173, pl. 47. Another example, circa 15th century and formerly in the Blanche C. Olschak Collection, is published in U. von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, p. 449, pl. 122C.
See also two later examples, both dated to the 17th century, illustrated in Gerd-Wolfgang Essen, Die Götter des Himalaya: Buddhistische Kunst Tibets, Munich, 1989, p. 86, pl. II-183 and Helmut Uhlig, On the Path to Enlightenment: The Berti Aschmann Foundation of Tibetan Art at the Museum Rietberg Zürich, Zürich, 1998, pl. 120, respectively.
Compare the present figure with a closely related Padmasambhava, dated to the second half of the 15th century and formerly in the Zimmerman Family Collection, with copper and silver inlay and the same seriously gazing eyes and delicate modelling of the features and ornaments, illustrated in Marylin M. Rhie and Robert A. F. Thurman, Wisdom and Compassion: The Sacred Art of Tibet, New York, 1991, pp. 172-173, pl. 47. Another example, circa 15th century and formerly in the Blanche C. Olschak Collection, is published in U. von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, p. 449, pl. 122C.
See also two later examples, both dated to the 17th century, illustrated in Gerd-Wolfgang Essen, Die Götter des Himalaya: Buddhistische Kunst Tibets, Munich, 1989, p. 86, pl. II-183 and Helmut Uhlig, On the Path to Enlightenment: The Berti Aschmann Foundation of Tibetan Art at the Museum Rietberg Zürich, Zürich, 1998, pl. 120, respectively.