A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF LAMA SHANG, FOUNDER OF THE TSELPA KAGYU ORDER
TIBET, 13TH/14TH CENTURY Himalayan Art Resources item no.16868 treasuryoflives.org biography no.3182 BDRC Resource ID P1875 14.5 cm (5 3/4 in.) high
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銅鎏金察巴噶舉初祖喇嘛祥像西藏 十三/十四世紀Recognized by his stout physique, patchwork robe, round eyes, prominent nose, curving hairline, and mudra, this gilt bronze depicts Zhang Yudrakpa Tsondru Drakpa (1123-93), commonly known as Lama Shang, with a stupa-form silhouette. Lama Shang studied under the abbot of Densatil monastery, Gonstul (1116-69), before founding his Tselpa order, which is one of four main branches of the Kagyu school. He went on to become the most powerful ruler of his time in Tibet, successfully controlling Lhasa and the surrounding U Province of Central Tibet. The combination of plinth and lotus pedestal chosen for this bronze is of a type produced by early Kagyu orders between the 12th and 14th centuries. The lotus petals with doubly frilled tips are shared by many Denastil bronzes, for example. See a Vairocana sold at Bonhams, Hong Kong, 7 October 2019, lot 933, and HAR no.57364. Another bronze of Lama Shang was sold at Bonhams, New York, 14 March 2017, lot 3227. Provenance Nagel Auktionen, Stuttgart, 12 November 2007, lot 855