Chos kyi rje Grags pa ’byung gnas

Hollow cast in one piece.
The garment is decorated with engraved ornamentation.
The bottom of the pedestal is sealed with gilt sheet of copper.

The bearded smiling monk with distinct portrait features is sealed in the diamond attitude (vajraparyaṅka) on a single lotus pedestal and displays the meditation attitude (dhyāna mudrā). The teacher is clad with a voluminous array of monastic garments decorated with floral patterns.

The front petals of the lotus pedestal are inscribed in Tibetan dBu can script:

༎ཆོས་ཀྱི་རྗེ་གྲགས་པ་འབྱུང་གནྶ་ལ་ན་མོ༎

// Chos kyi rje grags pa ’byung gnas la na mo //

“Homage to the Dharma king Grags pa ’byung gnas”

Although no person bearing this precise name could be found, there actually existed a Grags pa ’byung gnas in the 16th century in the Jo nang school, that was affiliated to ’Dzam thang monastery. With strong realistic features, this very refined portrait bears a high quality mercury gilding and meticulous engraving. The outer garment features lotus flower motifs while the vest is decorated with various offerings. The bare, dark metal of the beard provides a nice contrast to the gilding.

(Formerly O'Neil Coll.)

Béguin, Gilles, 2013. Art sacré du Tibet – Collection Alain Bordier, [catalogue of the exhibition held at the Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent; 14 mars au 21 juillet 2013]. Paris: Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent. Editions Findakli. P. 157

Bock, Etienne; Falcombello, Jean-Marc; Jenny Magali, 2022. Trésors du Tibet. Sur les pas de Milarépa. Paris: Flammarion. p. 75

Dinwiddie, Donald (ed.), 2003. Portrait of the Masters: Bronze Sculptures of the Tibetan Buddhist Lineages. Chicago & London: Serindia Publ. Inc. and Oliver Hoare Ltd. General References to Tibetan portait statues

von Schroeder, Ulrich, 2010. Buddhist Sculptures of the Alain Bordier Foundation. Hong Kong: Visual Dharma Publications, Ltd.. Pp. 38–39; plate 16B