Unknown
King Songtsen Gampo (r. 618-649)17th century

Not on view

Small gilt bronze sculpture of a seated figure in cross-legged position, wearing layered robes, with a tiered crown and secondary figure at top

Artist or Maker: Unknown
Title: King Songtsen Gampo (r. 618-649)
Place Made: Central Tibet
Date Made: 17th century
Medium: Gilt brass with traces of paint
Dimensions: 6 1/8 x 4 1/4 x 3 in. (15.55 x 10.79 x 7.62 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Werner G. Scharff
Accession Number: M.80.229
Classification: Sculpture
Collecting Area: South and Southeast Asian Art
Curatorial Notes: Songtsen Gampo was the King of Tibet (r. 618-649) and the founder of the Tibetan Empire (618-842). He introduced Buddhism to Tibet and secured vital political and cultural alliances by marrying Buddhist princesses from neighboring kingdoms, Princess Bhrikuti of Nepal (r. 622-649) and Princess Wencheng of China (r. 641-680). In circa 1640 he commissioned the renowned Jokhang temple and Gelug monastery in Lhasa. Songtsen Gampo was the first great Dharma King of Tibet during the Yarlung Dynasty (127 BCE-842 CE) and is regarded as a human emanation of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara.

Songtsen Gampo is portrayed as a fierce yogi or Buddhist master. He has a conical wrapped turban crested by an identifying image (bimba) of the diminutive head of the Jina Buddha Amitabha, who is the emanation source deity of Avalokiteshvara. The king has long black hair cascading to his shoulders and wears a heavy outer robe and sandals. His left hand is in his lap held palm upward in a half-gesture of meditation (ardha dhyana mudra). His right hand is extended across his right knee and held in a variant of a teaching gesture with the palm turned inward. He sits cross-legged on a double cushion draped with an antelope skin.

See Himalayan Art Resources, no. 85751, https://www.himalayanart.org/items/85751

A comparable sculpture of Songtsen Gampo is in the Museum der Kulturen, Basel (W.lld14045.R0100).
Selected Bibliography: Pal, Pratapaditya. Art of Tibet. Los Angeles; Berkeley, CA: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; University of California Press, 1983.
Pal, Pratapaditya. "Cosmic Vision and Buddhist Images." Art International vol. XXV, no. 1-2 (1982): 8-40.
Pal, Pratapaditya. Elephants and Ivories in South Asia. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1981.
Pal, Pratapaditya. Art of Tibet. Expanded edition. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1990.
Reedy, Chandra L. Himalayan Bronzes: Technology, Style and Choices. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1997.

Unknown
King Songtsen Gampo (r. 618-649)17th century

Not on view

Artist or Maker: Unknown
Title: King Songtsen Gampo (r. 618-649)
Place Made: Central Tibet
Date Made: 17th century
Medium: Gilt brass with traces of paint
Dimensions: 6 1/8 x 4 1/4 x 3 in. (15.55 x 10.79 x 7.62 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Werner G. Scharff
Accession Number: M.80.229
Classification: Sculpture
Collecting Area: South and Southeast Asian Art
Curatorial Notes: Songtsen Gampo was the King of Tibet (r. 618-649) and the founder of the Tibetan Empire (618-842). He introduced Buddhism to Tibet and secured vital political and cultural alliances by marrying Buddhist princesses from neighboring kingdoms, Princess Bhrikuti of Nepal (r. 622-649) and Princess Wencheng of China (r. 641-680). In circa 1640 he commissioned the renowned Jokhang temple and Gelug monastery in Lhasa. Songtsen Gampo was the first great Dharma King of Tibet during the Yarlung Dynasty (127 BCE-842 CE) and is regarded as a human emanation of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara.

Songtsen Gampo is portrayed as a fierce yogi or Buddhist master. He has a conical wrapped turban crested by an identifying image (bimba) of the diminutive head of the Jina Buddha Amitabha, who is the emanation source deity of Avalokiteshvara. The king has long black hair cascading to his shoulders and wears a heavy outer robe and sandals. His left hand is in his lap held palm upward in a half-gesture of meditation (ardha dhyana mudra). His right hand is extended across his right knee and held in a variant of a teaching gesture with the palm turned inward. He sits cross-legged on a double cushion draped with an antelope skin.

See Himalayan Art Resources, no. 85751, https://www.himalayanart.org/items/85751

A comparable sculpture of Songtsen Gampo is in the Museum der Kulturen, Basel (W.lld14045.R0100).
Selected Bibliography: Pal, Pratapaditya. Art of Tibet. Los Angeles; Berkeley, CA: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; University of California Press, 1983.
Pal, Pratapaditya. "Cosmic Vision and Buddhist Images." Art International vol. XXV, no. 1-2 (1982): 8-40.
Pal, Pratapaditya. Elephants and Ivories in South Asia. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1981.
Pal, Pratapaditya. Art of Tibet. Expanded edition. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1990.
Reedy, Chandra L. Himalayan Bronzes: Technology, Style and Choices. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1997.