A rare Tibetan wooden figure of a dignitary in... Lot 39

A rare Tibetan wooden figure of a dignitary in the style of the Tenth Karmapa Choying Dorje. 18th/19th century The figure of a bearded dignitary seated with his legs underneath on a high rectangular pedestal holding his hands in front of his chest, dressed in a jacket and apron, adorned with numerous strands of pearls around the body, ears and wrists, the hair styled into a bud. Small restorations. Choying Dorje (1604-1675), the Tenth Karmapa and spiritual head of the Kagyu school of Tibetan buddhism was a remarkable artist. His figures and paintings are unusual not only in their unprecedented iconographic depiction of religious figures and beings of all kinds but also in their unique and unprecedented styles, which borrows elements from the early buddhist art of Kashmir and Swat Walley. The present figure shows clear influences of Choying Dorje´s style, for example in the plasticity of the ornaments such as the various strings of bobbles, the linear pattern that adorns the apron and the unusually combed hair knotted into a bun. Heigth 21.7 cm Literature Compare two figures attributed to Choying Dorje: An ivory figure in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, acc. no. 1972.123 and a brass figure in the Rubin Museum of Art, New York, acc. no. C2005.16.3a-b, HAR65425 For the discussion of Choying Dorje as an artist see: Karl Debreczeny (ed.), The Black Hat Eccentric Artistic Vision of the Tenth Karmapa, New York 2012