A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF A LAMA TIBET, CIRCA 15TH CENTURYA GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF A LAMATIBET, CIRCA 15TH CENTURYHimalayan Art Resources item no. 1406 5 1/8 in. (13 cm) high西藏 約十五世紀 銅鎏金喇嘛像This revered master is portrayed in a patchwork robe with a hemline finely incised with foliating scrolls. With eyes nearly shut, he is lost in deep, inward contemplation, yet the animated manner in which his hands join together in dharmacakra mudra indicate that teaching was a key element of his practice. His broad ovoid face with receding hairline is shared by a number of portrait images from the 14th and 15th centuries, including a figure sold Bonhams, New York, 19 March 2012, lot 1099. Stylistically, the symmetrical folds of his lower garment are reminiscent of the heavy, rippling lower garments depicted on Tibeto-Chinese gilt bronzes from the Yongle (1403-24) and Xuande (1426-35) periods of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) that were sent to Tibetan monasteries as diplomatic gifts. See a gilt bronze figure of Tsongkhapa with similarly styled robes sold at Christie's, New York, 14 September 2010, lot 66. Provenance: Arnold Lieberman, New York, 19 March 2004 The Rapoport Collection, New York