TITLE OF SALE
SALE TITLE
TITLE OF SALE
SALE TITLE
LOCATION | XX XXXXXXX 2018
TITLE OF SALE
SALE TITLE
TITLE OF SALE
SALE TITLE
LOCATION | XX XXXXXXX 2018
M A S T E R P I E C E S F R O M T H E
NYINGJEI LAM COLLECTION
SOLD TO BENEFIT NYINGJEI LAM CHARITABLE PROJECTS
NEW YORK | 18 SEPTEMBER 2023
INSIDE FRONT COVER
THIS PAGE LOT 112
FRONT COVER
LOT 108
BACK COVER
LOT 110
THIS PAGE
LOT 113
THIS PAGE
LOT 112
18 SEPTEMBER 2023
11:00 AM
TO BE OFFERED IN
DHARMA AND TANTRA, INCLUDING MASTERPIECES FROM THE
NYINGJEI LAM COLLECTION
LOTS 108-114
EXHIBITION
ALL EXHIBITIONS FREE
AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
THURSDAY 14 SEPTEMBER
10 AM-5 PM
FRIDAY 15 SEPTEMBER
10 AM-5 PM
SATURDAY 16 SEPTEMBER
10 AM-5 PM
SUNDAY 17 SEPTEMBER
12 PM-5 PM
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NEW YORK, NY 10021
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FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT
JULIAN KING
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, HEAD OF SALE
INDIAN AND HIMALAYAN WORKS OF ART
JULIAN.KING@SOTHEBYS.COM
M A S T E R P I E C E S F R O M T H E
NYINGJEI LAM COLLECTION
SOLD TO BENEFIT NYINGJEI LAM CHARITABLE PROJECTS
I
have been asked to write a few words to serve as an introduction to the Nyingjei Lam Collection
or, to put it simply, to explain what it was that first prompted a Roman Catholic of Irish-American
origin who has spent most of his life living among the Chinese to begin collecting ‘Tibetan Buddhist
art’. As those familiar with the Tibetan language know, ‘Nyingjei Lam’ means ‘the Path of Compassion’.
Looking back over forty years ago to when I began to form the collection, it was a combination of things
that drew me towards Tibetan Buddhist and related art. The first of these was the compassionate
smiles that radiated from the faces of many of the statues of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, saints and
lamas that I saw. To me, these were not foolish, empty smiles, but rather smiles that reflected an inner
freedom, peace and joy, while also bringing peace and joy to the hearts and minds of their beholders.
In my childhood I had seen such smiles of ecstasy on the faces of the statues and paintings of Jesus, our
Blessed Lady, the angels and the saints and I had learnt that the central message of Christianity is love,
an unselfish, all-encompassing love, an unconditional giving of oneself to God and one’s fellow-beings
that appears foolish to many, but which in reality brings a freedom, joy and wealth of spirit that no
material objects could possibly bring. Prompted by the smiles on their faces, I read all that I could about
Buddhism and especially Tibetan Buddhism. Soon I discovered that just as in Christianity, in Buddhism
the source, the starting point, the path to true freedom and happiness is love, in this case a love called
‘compassion’ which is defined as an active striving to free all beings, including ourselves, from suffering.
It is this path of compassion that leads to true happiness and enlightenment.
Perhaps the second thing which drew me towards Tibetan Buddhist art was an ever-increasing interest
in the Tibetan people themselves and a sympathy with their history and culture, which in many ways
reminded me of my ancestors, the Irish. For both peoples, religion permeates daily life and brings a
strength, joy and solace known only to those who truly share their faith. Both are also a gregarious
people, much given to storytelling, singing and dancing, and a drop or two of spirits from time to time.
Both, too, are heirs and heiresses of a brilliant culture, with a vast literature and music of its own.
本人應邀為自己的收藏撰寫前言，闡述收藏背後
的機緣，即一名在華人圈中活躍大半生的愛爾蘭
裔美國籍羅馬天主教徒何以開始蒐集藏傳佛教藝
術品。 Nyingjei Lam 意為菩薩道，知曉藏文者皆
知。這一收藏始於四十多年前，現回首過往，當
初對藏傳佛教藝術產生興趣有若干原因，其中最吸
引我的，是諸佛菩薩造像面容所展微笑，深蘊慈
悲。於我而言，這些笑容非空泛愚昧，而是內心自
由、平安喜樂的投射，每當觀賞，心神頓覺祥悅。
如此脫塵微笑，我自幼見於耶穌、聖母、天使、聖
者等塑畫形象，並習得基督教中心思想是無私、
包容、無條件奉獻予主及世人之愛；此大愛在旁
人看來或似愚昧，實則能使精神得自由、喜悅與
富足，絕非物質可比。受這樣的笑容感召，我廣
讀佛學書籍，尤其鑽研藏傳佛教，隨即發現，一
如基督教義，佛教亦以愛為出發點，求索自在喜
樂，佛教稱此愛為慈悲，勤勉修行，以救拔眾生
及己身於苦厄。慈悲道，即是喜樂與正覺之道。
走向藏傳佛教藝術的另一原因是對藏地居民及其
歷史、文化日漸濃厚的興趣。我祖籍愛爾蘭，而
西藏與愛爾蘭文化竟頗有相近，均融宗教於日常，
並從中攝取力量、獲取歡樂、汲取慰藉，如此感
受，唯信者得。此外，西藏人與愛爾蘭人皆愛群
居，擅長傳頌故事，能歌善舞，常把酒言歡。兩
地都是文化豐富、文學音樂底蘊深厚的福地。
A NOTE FROM THE COLLECTOR
菩薩道藏者自序
6
Perhaps as a normal extension or outgrowth of my own religious beliefs as well as my deep respect for
the Buddhist notion of active compassion, I have over the past thirty-five years broadened the initial
purpose of my forming the Nyingjei Lam Collection to encompass such practical charitable work as
paying the educational expenses of needy children in Hong Kong, China, India, Nepal, etc., building
school wings, houses, toilets, paying medical expenses, providing care for the aged, etc. In the past
ten or so years, Nyingjei Lam charitable projects have become far more ambitious. Now, in addition to
medical treatment, care for the elderly, housing as well as education for many needy boys and girls,
we have also been sending young Chinese, Tibetan and Indian students to nursing, medical and dental
schools as well as universities inside India and overseas to such countries as Great Britain, Australia,
Singapore and the United States. In the hope of being able to raise enough funds to continue all these
projects during the remainder of my lifetime, I have decided to entrust Sotheby’s with the elegantly
cast image of the youthful and vivacious Bodhisattva Padmapani, an embodiment of the joyful vitality
that compassion nurtures, the dynamic multi-headed, silver-inlaid tantric emanation of Manjushri,
the Bodhisattva of wisdom and the olive-toned dancing figure of the powerfully protective Vajrapani
emerging from a flaming severed -human-heads studded mandorla and standing with a pair of jostling
elephants and lions under each side of his extended feet, while a vibrant tiny image of Vajrahumkara
emerges from his flaming hair.
Over the years, many people have helped in the formation of the Nyingjei Lam Collection and in the
exhibitions that have been held at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford and the Rubin Museum, New York
since 1999. I should especially like to thank Anna Maria and Fabio Rossi for their many efforts, especially
in arranging the loan of the collection to the Ashmolean and Rubin Museums, and David Weldon and
Jane Casey Singer for writing the catalogue. I am also extremely grateful to Dr. Andrew Topsfield for
exhibiting the Nyingjei Lam Collection at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, one of the most ancient
universities in Christendom. I am also greatly appreciative of the care dedicated to the collection by Jeff
Watt of the Rubin Museum, New York, where the collection was housed from 2005 to 2019. I should
also like to thank the many Tibetans who have extended their friendship to me over the years, especially
my Tibetan teacher, Sonam Palden, and the late Lithang Phulu; and also Dr Pratapaditya Pal, who has
done more than any living person to make Tibetan and all of Himalayan art known to the modern world.
Finally, I sincerely hope that those who come to view these objects will not regard them as mere
painting, metal or stone artifacts, but will rather see in each a tangible manifestation of the religious
spirit of the Tibetan people and of the quality that they most cherish, compassion.
或許出於自身信仰及對佛教積極踐行慈悲的深厚敬
意，過去近四十載，本人在集成菩薩道收藏之時，
更捐助中國、印度、尼泊爾等地貧苦兒童教育，援
建校舍、房屋、衛生設施，為老病者提供贍養。過
去十餘年間，菩薩道慈善項目更廣設方便，除資助
醫院、養老院及為無家兒童提供住所、教育，更將
部分漢族、藏族及印度學生送往各地學習醫護，足
跡遍布印度、英國、澳大利亞、新加坡、美國等
地。為在有生之年繼續所有慈善項目，我決意委託
蘇富比為此三尊造像尋求新主：蓮華手菩薩，面容
秀逸俊美，是喜樂慈悲的化身；四面文殊菩薩，銅
鑄錯銀，是無上智慧的化身；金剛手菩薩，腳下有
象、獅，身後火焰背光，頭頂現金剛哞迦邏小像。
自1999年以來，眾多人士曾協助本收藏之集成，對在
牛津阿什莫林博物館及紐約魯賓藝術博物館的展覽亦
多有支持。在此，我想致謝 Anna Maria Rossi 女士
和 Fabio Rossi 的鼎力相助，感謝 David Weldon 與
Jane Casey Singer 為展覽撰寫精彩圖錄； Andrew
Topsfield 博士促成菩薩道收藏走進古老的基督教
學府牛津大學並在阿什莫林博物館辦展，我深表感
激； 2005 至 2019 年間，本收藏存於魯賓藝術博物
館，特此感謝 Jeff Watt 先生悉心愛護藏品；亦感
謝多位西藏友人長久以來的幫助，尤其我的藏文老
師 Sonam Palden 以及現已辭世的 Lithang Phulu
； Pratapaditya Pal 博士的研究著作讓現代世界
認識西藏與喜馬拉雅藝術，此中貢獻亦功不可沒。
最後，謹望蒞臨觀賞本收藏的有緣人，不僅將藏品作
繪畫、金銅或石器看待，而是感受每一件所承載的宗
教精神以及西藏民族至為珍重的慈悲心。
MASTERPIECES FROM THE NYINGJEI LAM COLLECTION 7
The Nyingjei Lam Collection has been formed over some forty years by a private collector
with an acutely informed eye. The principal focus of the collection is the Buddhist art of Tibet
and the surrounding regions whose culture and artistic traditions had profound influence
on Tibetan spiritual and sculptural heritage. Nepal and India were rich sources of artistic influence in
the early days of the Chidar, or Later Diffusion of the Faith in Tibet, from the end of the tenth century.
Tibetans were drawn to these countries as pilgrims and for religious instruction in the homeland of
Buddhism. Some stayed and became monks at Indian monastic universities such as Vikramashila and
Nalanda where they often distinguished themselves as outstanding students. Tibetans were drawn to
the existential appeal of Buddhism and its philosophical traditions, and according to contemporaneous
accounts they were also deeply impressed by the material culture that grew up around it. A pilgrimage
in the twelfth century to the Mahabodhi temple — one of the Buddhist world’s most important
sites — would have been a spectacular experience, not only in spiritual significance but also for the
fabulous works of art on display: for instance, there is said to have been a near life-size silver standing
Avalokiteshvara at a temple gateway. Perhaps this was the inspiration for the important Tibetan silver
Padmapani in the Nyingjei Lam Collection, lot 108 The silver figure is set into an elegant circular gilt
copper lotus pedestal in a highly decorative style that originated in Pala period (8th-12th century)
sculpture such as the renowned silver Maitreya with a gilt copper base in the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Other distinctive Pala features include the belt ties at the waist, the textured belt with a large central
gem setting, the otherworldly expression on the face with heavily lidded eyes rolled up in a meditative
state, and the tall jatamakhuta with large gem finial. However, despite the parallels with eastern Indian
medieval works the sculpture differs significantly from the Pala original, especially in the exuberantly
large gem settings, and may be identified as early Tibetan homage to sculpture from the Indian
菩薩道收藏由一位私人藏家花費四十多年心血集
成， 以西藏及周邊地區佛教藝術珍品為收藏重心。
西藏周邊地區的文化和藝術對西藏的宗教傳承及造
像傳統影響深遠，尤其是十世紀末、後弘期之初的
尼泊爾與印度。藏人赴鄰國朝聖，聆受佛法，部分
信徒在印度受戒為僧，駐留超戒寺、那烂陀寺修習
精進，造詣出眾。據當時文獻記載，藏人受佛法感
召，也受相應物質文化熏陶。十二世紀，一次前
往佛教聖地摩訶菩提寺的朝聖具有重大意義，其
影響不僅在宗教修行層面，也在藝術表現方面。
據傳，摩訶菩提寺入口處曾有一尊觀世音菩薩銀立
像，與人等高，菩薩道所藏西藏蓮華手菩薩銀像，
編號108，或許便有源於此。銀像立於銅鎏金蓮花
座上，座為圓形，紋飾精細，風格源於帕拉王朝（
八至十二世紀），可比克利夫蘭藝術博物館名品彌
勒銀像所帶銅鎏金底座。其他細節亦見帕拉風格，
如腰間結帶、正中嵌寶碩麗，雙眼微張、面容超凡
出塵，髮髻高聳、髻頂嵌寶醒目。雖與東印度同時
期造像頗有相似，此尊亦與帕拉原型亦見區別，尤
其嵌寶，瑰美華貴，應為西藏早期造像對佛教發源
A N I N T R O D U C T I O N T O T H E
NYINGJEI LAM COLLECTION
菩薩道珍藏
DAV I D W ELD ON
8
Buddhist motherland. Another rare Tibetan bronze in the Nyingjei Lam Collection that takes inspiration
from eastern Indian traditions is the dynamic sculpture of Vajrapani, lot 112. The tall breakfront pedestal
and the animals in the base are common features of Pala period eastern Indian stone and metal
sculpture. The powerfully modelled Tibetan bronze is iconographically quite unique in its wrathful
portrayal of the bodhisattva Vajrapani. With its close stylistic ties to Pala period sculpture the bronze
may be dated to the early years of the Chidar.
Artists from Nepal have been commissioned by Tibetan patrons since at least the seventh century,
when the fabulous wood doorways and ceilings carved by Newar masters were installed in the Jokhang,
Lhasa. A unique circa eleventh century four-armed and four-faced figure in the Nyingjei Lam Collection
may possibly be identified as Krishna Yamari, a tantric emanation of Manjushri, the bodhisattva of
Wisdom, lot 114. The dynamic sculpture bears the hallmarks of Nepalese craftsmanship in the sensuous
modelling, the pure copper casting and the fire-gilding, while the use of silver inlay to highlight the
garland of white human skulls and skull crown points to a Tibetan provenance. This rare and spirited
sculpture belongs to an important group of gilt copper tantric statues made by Newar artists for Tibetan
patrons in the early days of the Chidar.
After centuries of self-imposed isolation Tibet became a focus of world attention in more recent times
due to important political and cultural upheavals. It was in this context that the Nyingjei Lam Collection
was formed, highlighting Tibet’s cultural legacy when so much has been lost.
地印度的造像形制著意致敬。菩薩道收藏中另一
西藏金剛手菩薩銅像，編號112，亦汲取東印度
造像傳統。高台及蓮花座上神獸均為帕拉王朝東
印度石雕、金銅造像所常見。此尊造像呈現金
剛手菩薩忿怒相，鑄造雄勁，舉世稀有，因風
格接近帕拉王朝，此尊應斷代為後弘期早期。
早自七世紀起，藏人便已捐資請尼泊爾造像師造
像，拉薩大昭寺木造門廊及天花便是出自尼瓦爾
藝匠之手。菩薩道藏有一尊約十一世紀四面四
臂造像，或為黑閻摩敵，乃文殊菩薩的密宗化現，編
號114。此尊造像尼泊爾風格鮮明，動態傳神，純以銅
鑄，火法鎏金，又錯銀以點綴骷髏瓔珞——骷髏瓔珞源
自西藏密宗。此尊珍罕殊勝，原屬一組銅鎏金造像，
於後弘期早期由尼瓦爾藝匠受西藏供養人之託鑄造。
數世紀以來，西藏與外間隔絕，菩薩道收藏卻讓世人有
機會欣賞到西藏悠久獨特的宗教文化，一窺此地的歷史
遺珍，感受其與衆不同的藝術氣息。
MASTERPIECES FROM THE NYINGJEI LAM COLLECTION 9
LITERATURE
David Weldon and Jane Casey Singer, The Sculptural
Heritage of Tibet: Buddhist Art in the Nyingjei Lam
Collection, London, 1999, pl. 15.
THE NYINGJEI LAM GEM-INSET SILVER AND GILT-COPPER
FIGURE OF AVALOKITESHVARA PADMAPANI,
TIBET, 12TH / 13TH CENTURY
西藏 十二 / 十三世紀 銀嵌寶蓮華手菩薩立像連銅合金鎏金蓮花座
Himalayan Art Resources item no. 68450.
HAR編號68450
Height 9 1/2 in., 24.1 cm
$ 800,000-1,000,000
108
EXHIBITED
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1996–2005 (on loan).
The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet: Buddhist Art in the
Nyingjei Lam Collection, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford,
1999.
Arte Buddhista Tibetana: Dei e Demoni dell' Himalaya,
Palazzo Bricherasio, Turin, 2004, cat. no. IV. 24.
Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 2005–2018 (on loan).
Casting the Divine: Sculptures of the Nyingjei Lam
Collection, Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 2012–13.
Masterworks: Jewels of the Collection, Rubin Museum of
Art, New York, 2014–2015.
10
此尊為觀世音菩薩，依寶冠後阿彌陀佛小像可辨。
右手施無畏印，左手持蓮花莖，故亦稱蓮華手菩 薩。
此尊銀像立於銅鎏金蓮花座上，風格汲取自印度東
部，可比十一至十二世紀帕拉王朝（八至十二世
紀）彌勒銀像連銅鎏金座一尊，藏克利夫蘭藝術
博物館，錄David Weldon及Casey Singer，《The
Sculptural Heritage of Tibet: Buddhist Art in the
Nyingjei Lam Collection》，倫敦，1999年，圖15
（圖一）。腰帶見典型帕拉風格，嵌寶瑰碩，面容
The bodhisattva is identified as Avalokiteshvara by the diminutive effigy of Buddha Amitabha in
the hair behind the central crown panel. The right hand is raised in the gesture of fearlessness
(abhaya mudra) and the left holds the stem of the lotus (padma) associated with this form of
the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara as Padmapani, the lotus bearer.
This rare Tibetan silver statue set into a circular gilt-copper lotus pedestal is modeled after eastern
Indian sculpture such as the 11th or 12th century Pala period (8th-12th century) silver Maitreya with
a gilt-copper base in the Cleveland Museum of Art, see David Weldon and Jane Casey Singer, The
Sculptural Heritage of Tibet: Buddhist Art in the Nyingjei Lam Collection, London, 1999, fig. 15 (fig. 1).
The distinctive Pala-style belt tied at the waist and the textured belt with a large central gem setting
are stylistically related to the Cleveland figure, as well as the otherworldly expression on the face
with heavily lidded eyes rolled up in a meditative state, and the tall jatamakhuta with large gem finial.
However, despite the parallels with eastern Indian medieval works, this sculpture differs significantly
from the Pala original, especially in the exuberantly large gem settings and the lotus pedestal that is
finished with a decorated rim, in contrast to the base of the Cleveland Pala figure which is designed
to fit into a separate throne with a prabhamandala attached to a lug in the middle of the back of the
figure. The base of the Nyingjei Lam figure has a slot at the back but no tang protruding at the back to
fix a separate prabhamandala. The pedestal’s sealing plate is engraved with a Tibetan style lotus and
the Eight Auspicious Emblems (Tib. tashi tagye). With the statue’s close affinities to eleventh or twelfth
century eastern Indian sculpture as well as its important stylistic departures, this unique silver figure
with distinctive gem settings and its elegant gilt-copper pedestal may be attributed to Tibet and dated
to around the twelfth or thirteenth centuries.
脫塵，雙目微張，髮髻高聳，髻頂亦見碩麗嵌寶，
皆與克利夫蘭藝術博物館例頗似。雖與印度東部同
時期造像相類，較之帕拉王朝原型，此尊亦有區
別，如嵌寶尤其醒目，且蓮花座邊沿滿飾，反觀克
利夫蘭例，底座單獨作，身後接背光。菩薩道此尊
不另接背光，所連底座封板鐫刻西藏蓮花及吉祥八
寶。此尊銀像受十一至十二世紀印度東部造像影響
明顯，然嵌寶及銅鎏金底座應屬十二至十三世紀西
藏風格之典型。
Fig. 1 A silver and gilt-copper figure of Maitreya, Pala
period, 12th century, © Cleveland Museum of Art
圖1 帕拉王朝 十二世紀 銀彌勒佛立像連銅鎏金蓮花座
© 克里夫蘭藝術博物館
MASTERPIECES FROM THE NYINGJEI LAM COLLECTION 13
AN INSCRIBED GILT-COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF CHOKYI GYELPO
TIBET, 16TH CENTURY
西藏 十六世紀 銅合金鎏金卻吉嘉波法王坐像
Himalayan Art Resources item no. 13904.
HAR編號13904
the reverse of the base inscribed with Homage to Kunkhyen Chokyi Gyalpo Drimed Ozer!
Height 2 1/2 in., 6.5 cm
$ 20,000-30,000
109
14
The inscription on the reverse indicated that this finely cast gilt portrait lama represents Chokyi
Gyelpo (1335-1407), depicted seated on a double-lotus pedestal with elaborate floral-incised
robes, the lotus stem on his left shoulder supporting an intricately cast image of Saraswati,
goddess of learning and speech, playing the vina in front of a sutra.
Chokyi Gyelpo's biography is written up by Alexander Gardner, The Treasury of Lives, BDRC P1485, where
he expounds how Chokyi Gyelpo was born into the clan that had controlled Drikung Kagyu since its
foundation, and his uncle was Chunyipa Dorje Rinchen, the 9th abbot of Drikung Thil monastery. At the
age of 11, he studied at Takpu Chode, a Kadam monastery that had been founded by Rinchen Nyingpo,
a student of Atisha, and received teachings on Hevajra there. On the death of his uncle he was made
abbott of Drikung Thil in 1350 or 1351, where he served until 1395. Among his disciples was Tsongkhapa
(1357-1419), the founder of the Gelugpa school, who travelled to Drikung Thil at the age of 16 to receive
teachings from him on several topics including the Mahamudra and the Six Dharmas of Naropa.
MASTERPIECES FROM THE NYINGJEI LAM COLLECTION 17
PROVENANCE
Nyingjei Lam Collection.
Rossi & Rossi Ltd., London.
Robert Bigler, New York.
A GILT-COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF VAJRAVARAHI
YUAN DYNASTY
元 銅合金鎏金金剛亥母像
Himalayan Art Resources item no. 88421.
HAR編號88421
Height 6 1/4 in., 15.8 cm
$ 100,000-150,000
110
EXHIBITED
Images of Faith: A Private Collection of Himalayan Art,
Rossi & Rossi Ltd., London, 2008, cat. no. 6.
Art and Faith at the Crossroads, Robert Bigler, Zurich,
2013, cat. no. 18.
Eternal Transience, Enlightened Wisdom – Masterpieces
of Buddhist Art, University Museum and Art Gallery,
University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2022, cat. no. 23.
18
金剛亥母，又稱金剛瑜伽母，乃勝樂金剛之明妃，圖
像表現形式不一而足。此尊鑄像威嚴厚重，腳踏仰臥
人身，齜牙露齒，右手揮金剛彎刀，左手持嘎巴拉
盌，頭右側有野豬口鼻突出。滿身珠飾豐美，披骷髏
瓔珞，戴骷髏頭冠，及諸寶珠墜飾。
Vajrayogini, the principal female deity of the Chakrasamvara Cycle of Tantras, is represented
in many different forms. In this powerfully cast sculpture she appears in the form of
Vajravarahi (the 'Adamantine Sow'), with a single boar's muzzle appearing on the right of
her head, depicted standing ferociously on a prostrate body, baring her teeth as she brandishes a
kartika and a blood-filled skull cap. Her opulent jewelry includes garlands of severed human heads,
a diadem of skulls and intricately cast strings of pearls combined with rosettes and hanging dropshaped elements.
It is rare to find any Tantric deity datable to the Yuan dynasty. Here the articulation of the facial
expression and the furrowed eyebrows points strongly to the Yuan, as does the cloud collar apron
around her waist, a decoratif motif found on Yuan ceramics. The distinctive treatment of the lotus
base and jewelry also closely relates to that on a gilt Manjushri dated to 1305 from the Qing Court
Collection, preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of
Treasures of the Palace Museum. Buddhist Statues of Tibet, Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 209.
可斷為元代之密教本尊造像稀見無多，此尊金剛亥母
開臉及眉部形態見強烈元代風格，腰間裙擺所作如意
云頭又為元代瓷器常見紋飾。蓮花底座及珠寶瓔珞亦
與一尊1305年造鎏金文殊師利像極似，清宮舊藏，
現貯北京故宮博物院，錄《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全
集：藏傳佛教造像》，香港，1995年，圖版209。
MASTERPIECES FROM THE NYINGJEI LAM COLLECTION 21
AN INSCRIBED SILVER ALLOY FIGURE OF JIGTEN SUMGON RINCHEN PEL
TIBET, 17TH CENTURY
西藏 十七世紀 銀合金吉天頌恭仁欽貝坐像
Himalayan Art Resources item no. 13905.
HAR編號13905
the reverse of the base inscribed with Drigung Kyura
Height 2 1/2 in., 6.5 cm
$ 20,000-30,000
111
22
This intricately created sculpture is signed Drigung Kyura, and is clearly identifiable as Jigten
Sumgon Rinchen Pel, the founder of the Drikung Kagyu lineage, by the precision of the
open, naturalistically cast facial features and prominent ears. See a large figure of Rinchen
Pel, illustrated in Donald Dinwiddie (ed.), Portraits of the Masters, London, 2003, pl. 46, and sold at
Bonhams New York, 14th March 2017, lot 3236, and a smaller figure sold in these rooms, 21st March,
2023, lot 128. See also a portrait of Rinchen Pel in the Musée Guimet, illustrated in Czaja and Proser,
Golden Vision of Densatil, New York, 2014, pp 68-9, pl.1, and another in the Potala Palace, illustrated in
David Jackson, Painting Traditions of the Drigung Kagyu School, New York, 2015, p. 89, fig. 5.12.
24
LITERATURE
David Weldon and Jane Casey Singer, The Sculptural
Heritage of Tibet: Buddhist Art in the Nyingjei Lam
Collection, London, 1999, pl. 16.
A COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF CHANDA VAJRAPANI
TIBET, 12TH / 13TH CENTURY
西藏 十二 / 十三世紀 銅合金金剛手菩薩立像
Himalayan Art Resources item no. 68451.
HAR編號68451
Height 7 1/2 in., 19 cm
$ 120,000-150,000
EXHIBITED
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1996–2005 (on loan).
The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet: Buddhist Art in the
Nyingjei Lam Collection, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford,
1999.
Arte Buddhista Tibetana: Dei e Demoni dell' Himalaya,
Palazzo Bricherasio, Turin, 2004, cat. no. IV. 25.
Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 2005–2018 (on loan).
Casting the Divine: Sculptures of the Nyingjei Lam
Collection, Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 2012–13.
Eternal Transience, Enlightened Wisdom – Masterpieces
of Buddhist Art, University Museum and Art Gallery,
University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2022, cat. no. 14.
112
26
This wrathful form of the bodhisattva Vajrapani holds the vajra in his raised right hand with the
forefinger of the left extended in a threatening gesture (tarjani mudra), and steps vigorously
to his right (pratyalidha) upon the backs of lions and elephants. He wears a flayed tiger skin
dhoti and devours a snake, with serpents as earrings, necklace, armbands, anklets, hair band and
sacred cord (yajnopavita), an effigy of a tutelary deity in his flame-red hair, and with remains of white
metal inlay in his deep set eyes.
Like the Nyingjei Lam silver Avalokiteshvara Padmapani (lot 108), the Chanda Vajrapani draws on
eastern Indian sculptural traditions. The necklace of pendant gems is a traditional eastern Indian type
and metal inlaid eyes are a common feature of Pala period (8th-12th century) bronzes. The style of
the lotus petals of the base is rooted in eastern India medieval works and the form of the pedestal with
the projecting central section is commonly seen in Pala stone sculpture. As is the style of the lions and
elephants trampled underfoot. Compare the outward facing lions with one paw raised in the throne of
a Kurkihar Buddha, see Ulrich von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, fig. 58C. The
breakfront pedestal is decorated with two Buddhist eight-spoked weapon wheels (Tib. drag po’i ‘khor
lo) flanking a vajra: compare the eight-spoked weapon wheel on the breakfront pedestal of a circa
twelfth or thirteenth century Tibetan Yamari group in Ulrich von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in
Tibet, Hong Kong, 2001, vol. II, p. 1145, pls. 299D, E. Sun and moon symbols and two severed heads
adorn Vajrapani’s flaming aureole, with a diminutive vajra engraved on the flames close to the deity’s
right knee. The powerfully modeled Tibetan sculpture is iconographically quite unique in its dramatic,
wrathful portrayal of Vajrapani. With its close affinity with Pala period sculpture it may be dated to
around the twelfth or early thirteenth century.
此尊金剛手菩薩忿怒相右手高舉執金剛杵，左手食指
結期克印，右腿彎曲，左腿直蹬，踏於獅、象背上。
腰著虎皮，口咬巨蛇，耳飾、頸飾、腕飾、踝飾、髮
帶及淨繩均為蛇身。火紅色髮髻間有一護法小像，雙
眼深邃，嵌白色金屬。
恰如菩薩道所藏蓮華手觀音銀像（編號108），此尊
金剛手菩薩亦汲取印度東部造像傳統。頸鍊垂墜珠
寶乃印度東部風格之典型，眼瞳嵌金屬於帕拉王朝
（八至十二世紀）金銅造像亦是常見。蓮座花瓣有
印度東部源流，台座中間凸起則多見於帕拉王朝石
雕。菩薩腳下獅、象風格可比一庫基哈爾佛造像之底
座，獅面朝外，一爪高伸，見烏爾里希·馮·施羅
德，《Indo-Tibetan Bronzes》，香港，1981年，圖
58C。台座中凸處飾一把金剛杵，兩側各飾一把八輻
法輪，可比一尊約十二至十三世紀西藏閻摩敵像之
台座，亦見八輻法輪，錄烏爾里希·馮·施羅德，
《Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet》，香港，2001年，
卷二，頁1145，圖版299D、E。金剛手菩薩火焰背光
有日、月及兩顆頭顱，菩薩右膝附近背光上更鐫有一
把微型金剛杵。此尊造像雄渾有力，怖畏靈動，因與
帕拉王朝造像關聯緊密，可斷代為十二至十三世紀
初。
MASTERPIECES FROM THE NYINGJEI LAM COLLECTION 29
EXHIBITED
Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 2005–2018 (on loan).
Casting the Divine: Sculptures of the Nyingjei Lam
Collection, Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 2012–13.
Wutaishan: Pilgrimage to Five Peak Mountain, Rubin
Museum of Art, New York, 2007.
A COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF MANJUSHRI
TIBET, 14TH CENTURY
西藏 十四世紀 銅合金文殊師利菩薩坐像
Himalayan Art Resources item no. 68322.
HAR編號68322
Height 5 3/8 in., 13.7 cm
$ 30,000-40,000
113
30
This fine sculpture of the bodhisattva Manjushri, the oldest and most significant bodhisattva in
Mahayana Buddhist literature, is sensitively cast in a lustrous copper alloy with semi-precious
inlaid stones.
Manjushri, the bodhisattva of discriminating wisdom, is one of the most iconic deities in the pantheon
of Mahayana Buddhism. His penetrating insight – often symbolized as a flaming sword held aloft in
his right hand – cuts through dualistic fixation by means of prajña, or transcendent knowledge. He is
thus identified by his association with the Prajñaparamitasutra, the seminal text of early Buddhism
distinguishing the sixfold path which cultivates prajña: generosity, discipline, patience, exertion,
meditation and wisdom.
A closely related smaller gilt-copper alloy figure of Manjushri, also from the Nyingjei Lam Collection, is
illustrated in David Weldon and Jane Casey Singer, The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet: Buddhist Art in the
Nyingjei Lam Collection, London, 1999, fig. 44.
THIS PAGE LOT 113
LITERATURE
David Weldon and Jane Casey Singer, The Sculptural
Heritage of Tibet: Buddhist Art in the Nyingjei Lam
Collection, London, 1999, pl. 12.
A SILVER-INLAID GILT-COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF KRISHNA YAMARI
TIBET, CIRCA 11TH CENTURY
西藏 約十一世紀 銅合金鎏金錯銀黑閻摩敵像
Himalayan Art Resources item no. 68447.
HAR編號68447w
Height 7 1/2 in., 19 cm
$ 300,000-500,000
EXHIBITED
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1996–2005 (on loan).
The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet: Buddhist Art in the
Nyingjei Lam Collection, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford,
1999.
Arte Buddhista Tibetana: Dei e Demoni dell' Himalaya,
Palazzo Bricherasio, Turin, 2004, cat. no. IV. 13.
Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 2005–2018 (on loan).
Casting the Divine: Sculptures of the Nyingjei Lam
Collection, Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 2012–13.
114
34
The deity is depicted as a wrathful four-armed manifestation of the bodhisattva Manjushri
holding a sword in the raised right hand (the blade now missing), and with the forefinger
of his left hand extended in a threatening gesture (tarjani mudra). The peaceful head of
Manjushri with his idiosyncratic braided locks (trisikha) appears above the three wrathful faces. The
skull crowns of the three krodha heads and the long skull garland are inlaid with silver. The deity wears
a flayed tiger skin dhoti, snake jewelry and a sacred cord (yajnopavita) in the form of a serpent draped
over the shoulder and tied at his waist, its head entwined with its tail. Attributes from two of the hands
were probably separately cast and are now missing, as is the statue’s original pedestal making a firm
iconographic attribution uncertain. However, an eastern Indian medieval period clay tsa-tsa depicts a
multi-armed Krishna Yamari standing on a buffalo, also holding a sword in one of his right hands, the
left in tarjani mudra and with a peaceful face above the wrathful heads resembling the head on this
figure, see Jeff Watt, Himalayan Art Resources, item no. 9255, perhaps a related iconographic form of
this figure.
Compare also the Nepalese style and iconographic posture of an early gilt-copper wrathful
manifestation of Manjushri now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, see Pratapaditya Pal, The
Sensuous Immortals, Los Angeles, 1997, p. 168, cat. no. 97, that has been identified by Watt as Achala,
ibid., item no. 86503. Like the Metropolitan bronze, this wrathful figure has close stylistic parallels to
Nepalese sculpture but with significant differences to traditional Kathmandu Valley works, suggesting a
Tibetan provenance. While the peaceful head of Manjushri with a single crown panel is quintessentially
Nepalese in style, compare an eleventh century bronze Maitreya in the Los Angeles County Museum of
Art, in Pratapaditya Pal, Art of Nepal, Los Angeles, 1985, p. 100, cat. no. S20, the silver embellishment
of the crown and skull garland is a strong indication of a Tibetan provenance: silver inlay does not
feature on indigenous Newar gilt-copper statues. Compare also an early Nepalese style gilt-copper
Vajrahumkara in the Nyingjei Lam Collection that has a Tibetan inscription incised on the tang beneath
the left foot confirming a Tibetan provenance, see David Weldon and Jane Casey Singer, The Sculptural
Heritage of Tibet: Buddhist Art in the Nyingjei Lam Collection, London, 1999, pl. 10. This rare and
dynamic figure belongs to an important group of early tantric gilt-copper statues made for Tibetan
patrons, most probably cast by itinerant Nepalese artists.
此尊為文殊師利菩薩四臂忿怒相化現，一右手高舉執
寶劍（劍鋒現已缺失），一左手食指結期克印，三面
忿怒相之上為文殊菩薩寂靜相，髮髻典型。三面忿怒
相所戴骷髏頭冠及骷髏瓔珞為錯銀。腰穿虎皮，身佩
蛇飾，由肩及腰穿戴蛇形淨繩，蛇首蛇尾纏繞。文殊
有二臂原持法器，法器應單獨鑄造，現已缺失，底座
情況同此，故圖像風格難考。然可比一印度東部同時
期陶土擦擦，塑黑閻摩敵，多面多臂，腳踏水牛，一
右手亦執寶劍，一左手結期克印，忿怒相上有一寂靜
相，與此尊頗似，見傑夫·瓦特，《Himalayan Art
Resources》，編號9255，或為此尊相關聯形象。
亦比一尊早期銅鎏金文殊菩薩忿怒相化現像，其
尼泊爾風格及站立體式與此尊相類，藏大都會藝
術博物館，錄Pratapaditya Pal，《The Sensuous
Immortals》，洛杉磯，1997年，頁168，編號97，傑
夫·瓦特將其斷為不動明王阿遮羅，出處同前，編號
86503。恰如大都會所藏例，此尊忿怒文殊像緊隨尼
泊爾造像風格，但與加德滿都谷地所出亦有明顯不
同，可知其西藏源流。文殊寂靜相單一頂髻為典型尼
泊爾風格，比一尊十一世紀彌勒菩薩像，藏洛杉磯郡
立藝術館，錄Pratapaditya Pal，《Art of Nepal》，
洛杉磯，1985年，頁100，編號S20，其錯銀寶冠及
骷髏瓔珞展現強烈西藏風格，因尼瓦爾本土所造銅鎏
金像不以錯銀為飾。另比一尊早期尼泊爾風格銅鎏金
金剛哞迦邏像，菩薩道收藏，左腳下方帶藏語銘文，
可知西藏源流，見David Weldon及Casey Singer，
《Sculptural Heritage of Tibet: Buddhist Art in the
Nyingjei Lam Collection》，圖版10。此尊珍罕，靈
動如生，乃早期密宗銅鎏金造像一組之一，極有可能
由尼泊爾雲遊藝匠為西藏供養人所造。
MASTERPIECES FROM THE NYINGJEI LAM COLLECTION 37
©SOTHEBY’S, INC. 2023
