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A GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF TSONGKHAPA LOBSANG DRAKPA (1357-1419) TIBET, 16TH CENTURY 7 in. (17.9 cm.) high
The collection of Cheng Huan, SC, Hong Kong, 1990s, by repute.
Tsongkhapa, the figure depicted here, is the fourteenth-century founder of the Gelukpa sect of Tibetan Buddhism. After practicing a bit of each tradition and observing a dangerously loose application of the monastic code, Tsongkhapa established a new tradition based on a set of regulations that emphasized discipline and a regimented study of the sacred scriptures. The tradition came to be known as the ‘Virtuous Tradition’ and rose to religious and political preeminence in the seventeenth century, displacing the Sakya school as the primary political force in Tibet. The Gelukpa school is that with which the widely-influential incarnation lineage of the Dalai Lama is associated.
Tsongkhapa's iconography is standardized; he is always depicted with the symbolic attributes of a sword and a religious text. Here he is depicted in a richly-gilt bronze form, with lifelike hands held in dharmachakra mudra, lotus stems rising at both shoulders, clad in heavy robes with ornate incised textile patterns throughout. The large, curled lotus petals surrounding the circular base are indicative of its sixteenth- or seventeenth-century, central Tibetan origin.
Himalayan Art Resources, item no. 24538.