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Lot Essay
This exceptional seventeenth- to eighteenth-century Tibetan sculpture of Chakrasamvara is a masterwork of Himalayan metallurgy, likely produced at the highly influential Tashikitsel workshops of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery. As the traditional seat of the Panchen Lamas, Tashi Lhunpo developed into an artistic powerhouse beginning in the seventeenth century, when the Fourth Panchen Lama (1570–1662) actively recruited master artisans from Shigatse. Under the Fifth Panchen Lama (1663–1737) , these diverse craft workshops gradually coalesced and created local workshops in Tashikitsel. It was here that artisans perfected a highly prized, luminescent alloy creating an elite class of statues.
The most remarkable physical characteristic of this sculpture is its material composition, a distinctive combination of purple gold and gilt copper alloy. In Tibetan text traditions, this highly revered purple gold material is termed dzai kṣim li ma. Historically believed to have originated in India, dzai kṣim li ma is a specialized copper alloy celebrated for developing a deep, rich, dark purple patina that possesses an almost supernatural luminescent quality (L. Wenhua. "Happiness and Longevity of Sumeru: Tashilhunpo Monastery as a Palace of Arts and Culture." Arts of Asia, vol. 50, no. 6, Nov.–Dec. 2020). Within Tibet, Tashi Lhunpo stood out as one of only three primary, elite production sites capable of mastering this alloy.
Because a large number of Nepalese Newar artisans worked at the Tashikitsel workshops over an extended period, the resulting tashilima statuary retains a powerful, unmistakable Nepalese stylistic lineage. This distinct aesthetic is vividly apparent in the physical modeling of this Chakrasamvara. The figures display the handsome, rounded facial features, straight noses, full cheeks, and subtle, youthful smiles typical of the Newar-influenced workshop style.
A larger comparable example of the same subject is housed in the Museum Rietberg in Zurich (BA 112). The two statues share a nearly identical compositional blueprint, indicating they emerged from the same rigorous workshop tradition. Both sculptures utilize an identical, deeply cast, openwork aureole carved with dense, writhing tongues of fire. These contrasting alloys accompanied by Nepalese features are also executed on an Ushnishvijaya (Bonhams, Paris, 11 June 2024, lot 8) which have also been linked to Tashikitsel workshops, and like the Rietberg example shares a seventeenth-century date.
While later archives explicitly document the Qianlong Emperor commissioning vast sets of tashilima statues from the Sixth Panchen Lama for the Forbidden City in 1772, the earlier date of this specific sculpture underscores an earlier phase of this cross-cultural relationship. Long before the peak of Qianlong's patronage, the exceptional quality of Tashi Lhunpo's workshops had already established tashilima as a luxury item of international renown.
The most remarkable physical characteristic of this sculpture is its material composition, a distinctive combination of purple gold and gilt copper alloy. In Tibetan text traditions, this highly revered purple gold material is termed dzai kṣim li ma. Historically believed to have originated in India, dzai kṣim li ma is a specialized copper alloy celebrated for developing a deep, rich, dark purple patina that possesses an almost supernatural luminescent quality (L. Wenhua. "Happiness and Longevity of Sumeru: Tashilhunpo Monastery as a Palace of Arts and Culture." Arts of Asia, vol. 50, no. 6, Nov.–Dec. 2020). Within Tibet, Tashi Lhunpo stood out as one of only three primary, elite production sites capable of mastering this alloy.
Because a large number of Nepalese Newar artisans worked at the Tashikitsel workshops over an extended period, the resulting tashilima statuary retains a powerful, unmistakable Nepalese stylistic lineage. This distinct aesthetic is vividly apparent in the physical modeling of this Chakrasamvara. The figures display the handsome, rounded facial features, straight noses, full cheeks, and subtle, youthful smiles typical of the Newar-influenced workshop style.
A larger comparable example of the same subject is housed in the Museum Rietberg in Zurich (BA 112). The two statues share a nearly identical compositional blueprint, indicating they emerged from the same rigorous workshop tradition. Both sculptures utilize an identical, deeply cast, openwork aureole carved with dense, writhing tongues of fire. These contrasting alloys accompanied by Nepalese features are also executed on an Ushnishvijaya (Bonhams, Paris, 11 June 2024, lot 8) which have also been linked to Tashikitsel workshops, and like the Rietberg example shares a seventeenth-century date.
While later archives explicitly document the Qianlong Emperor commissioning vast sets of tashilima statues from the Sixth Panchen Lama for the Forbidden City in 1772, the earlier date of this specific sculpture underscores an earlier phase of this cross-cultural relationship. Long before the peak of Qianlong's patronage, the exceptional quality of Tashi Lhunpo's workshops had already established tashilima as a luxury item of international renown.