The Nyingjei Lam parcel-gilt silver and gilt-copper figure of Milarepa, Tibet, 15th century

The Nyingjei Lam parcel-gilt silver and gilt-copper figure of Milarepa
Tibet, 15th century
西藏 十五世紀 銀局部鎏金密勒日巴像連銅鎏金蓮花座

Himalayan Art Resources item no. 68492.
HAR編號68492

Height 5 in., 12.8cm

the parcel-gilt silver and gilt-copper figure inscribed along the lotus petal base 'this silver image of Mila[repa], king of the sacred doctrine, was set up at Nyüg Peak by the monk Gagi Wangpo. Through this virtuous act may [all beings] who have been my mother realise the abiding nature of the mind, and may they achieve [the level of] Vajradhara, embodiment of the four Buddha bodies! May good auspices prevail!’ (chos kyi rgyal po mid le[la]’i dngul sku ‘di/ dge slong dga’ gis dbang pos smyug lar gzhengs// dge des mar gyur sems kyi gnas lugs rtogs// sku bzhi’i bdag nyid rdo rje ‘chang thob shog// mang ga lam//)

inscribed on the baseplate 'Homage to the venerable Mila Zhepei Dorje! May my kind mother Sonam Zemo attain Buddhahood!’ (rje mid la gzhad pa rdo rje la na mo/ drin can gyi ma bsod nams bzad mo sngyas [sangs rgyas] thob par gyur cig/)

Condition Report:
The Milarepa has been preserved in exceptionally good condition. There is just insignificant rubbing to the gilding and general surface wear. The base remains sealed.

Because this lot was imported into the United States after September 1, 2020, it is subject to an import tariff of 7.5% of the value declared upon entry into the United States. $131,250.00, plus applicable sales tax will be included on your invoice unless you instruct Sotheby's to arrange shipping of the lot to a foreign address. For more information on the import tariff, please review the Symbol Key in the back of the catalogue. If you have any questions, please contact tariffs@sothebys.com.

由於本拍品在 2020年9月1日之後進口到美國，所以買家可能需就本拍品支付進口關稅，金額為拍品進口美國當時申報價值的7.5％。除非您要求蘇富比安排運送拍品到美國境外之地址，否則發票上將包括131,250.00美元以及相關的銷售稅。如欲查詢進口關稅的更多信息，請查閱目錄背面的附錄。如有任何疑問，敬請聯繫tariffs@sothebys.com。

Catalogue Note:
Milarepa (1040-1123) remains one of Tibet’s most charismatic saints, whose biography has inspired generations of devotees. Although he is progenitor of the Kagyu lineage, he is perceived by all orders of Tibetan Buddhism as the archetypal yogin and is held in the highest esteem for his heroic quest for knowledge. Milarepa gained little from his first Buddhist teacher who eventually referred him to a guru named Marpa (1012-1097) from Wheat Valley in Lhodrak. His trials while apprenticed to Marpa are legendary. It seemed to Milarepa that his new guru kept withholding his knowledge, so he left on numerous occasions only to return finding no satisfaction elsewhere. For his persistence he was finally granted the teachings he desperately sought, and henceforth praised his beloved guru Marpa in song and verse. Indeed, over a lifetime Milarepa is famously credited with composing one-hundred-thousand songs.

Milarepa was renowned for wearing only a simple white cotton shawl, living as an ascetic oblivious to the cold. And that is how he is portrayed in this exceptional Tibetan statue, with the cotton shawl draped over the left shoulder revealing his meditation strap (yogapatta) slung across the body. The strap is parcel gilt in subtle contrast to the silver body. Milarepa’s face is painted gold according to Tibetan ritual practice with color highlighting eyes and mouth, the lips opened slightly as if in song. A tightly rolled prayer scroll is inserted in the left earlobe. Milarepa is seated on an antelope skin laid over the lotus pedestal. The richly gilded copper base is inscribed around the circular upper rim. The gilt-copper consecration sealing-plate beneath is intact, and beautifully engraved with a visvavajra and a further two-line inscription.

This exquisite silver image and gilt copper pedestal are cast in a pure south central Tibetan style that is fully formed by the fifteenth century. Unmistakably Tibetan in its iconography and style, the sculpture nevertheless incorporates foreign sculptural traditions that have been absorbed by Tibetan artists and patrons over centuries. The color combination of silver figure on a gilded copper base is a sculptural device originating in eastern India during the Pala period (8th-12th century), seen in the silver Maitreya in the Cleveland Museum of Art (fig. 1), see Weldon and Casey Singer, David Weldon and Jane Casey Singer, The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet: Buddhist Art in the Nyingjei Lam Collection, London, 1999, figs. 15 and 16. Examples of this elegant and innovative Pala style were brought to Tibet where they served as inspiration to local artists. The style of the slim and elegant lotus petals on the gilt copper base are reminiscent of the smaller Yongle period (1403-1424) imperial bronzes bequeathed in large numbers to Tibetan hierarchs and monasteries, such as the four-armed Manjushri in the British Museum, see Heather Karmay, Early Sino-Tibetan Art, Warminster, 1975, p. 87, fig. 54, and another four-armed Manjushri sold in these rooms, 20th March 2018, lot 107, and now in...