Alloy with copper inlay, H. 21 cm. 

Southern Tibet 1507
 
 
 

If it were not inscribed, this image could be taken for a Mahasiddha, the "Perfected Being,"because he is half-naked, and wears the ascetic chignon and the yogic band around his waist and knee.

Now, the inscription discloses three important pieces of information:

1) the events leading to the cast of the statue

2) the name of the character represented 

3) the name of the donator and/or artist who inscribed the cast.
 
 

The author of the inscription tells us that the sculpture was executed upon the death of gTsang-smyon he-ru-ka. He is far from being unknown and his exceptional personality is a testimony of the environment in which the image was made.
 

gTsang-smyon or the madman of gTsang was one of the leading figures of the smyon-pa movement. The smyon-pa could be considered as typical yogis, giving up all the conventions and indulging themselves into all kind of eccentricities, accepting all aspects of earthly life to be able to withdraw from it. This smyon-pa movement bloomed in Tibet during the fifteenth century, a time when religious reforms and doctrinal systematization were established. The aim of this movement was to oppose the Gelugpas and the reform of Tsongkhapa,whilst inducing the Kagyupas against the hereditary lineage, favoring the passing on of knowledge from master to disciple.
 

This simple transmission should have prevented the formation of the Kagyupa school resulting later in the development of numerous sub-sects. This movement was an attempt to revive the traditions of the first gurus of which the most famous was Milarepa. The woleading figures ofthis restricted movement were gTsang-smyon ( 1452-1507) and 'Brug-smyon kun-dga"-legs-pa ( 1455-1529) better known as "Brug-pa kun legs.
 

gTsang-smyon was a member of the Ras-chung Kagyupa school, now extinct. He is well known for his biography of Milarepa dated 1484, a major work in the Tibetan literature.
 

If gTsang-smyon died in 1507, this sculpture can thus be dated in the same year.

The Essen collection keeps a little statue of the same character, possibly of a later date ( vol.II, no.173 ). This one is inscribed rGod bya-gtang ras-chen, one of his other names, though he is better known as rGod-tshan ras-pa sna-tshogs ran-grol. 

Very little information is available on him, except that he is the author of the main biography of his guru, Grub-chen gtsang he-ru-ka ( gTsang-smyon ) of whom he became one of the seven main disciples around 1503-1504. He also left several works belonging to the Ras-chung school of the Kagyupa.

According to L. Chandra who studied the gTsang-smyon biography, rGod-tshang ras-pa is known for his contempt of Tibetan literary conventions, the style and the spelling. This is in line with a willing demonstration of the smyon-pa principle, of its madness, its marginality and its absence of conformism.

Beyond the personality of rGod-tsid-pa it is important to know we are dealing with the portrait of a character cast during his life time, which is exceptional. On the one hand, his slightly bulging eyes and his knit eyebrows show the terrifying and wrathful aspect typical of his name Heruka. On the other hand, his nose his mouth, his ears and the curls on his temples could very well be details of his personal physical appearance. 

We know several representations of gTsang-smyon. One was seen on the London market in 1981. Another one was published by D.I. Lauf, but unfortunately its size is not mentioned. Nevertheless many stylistic elements are very similar; these include: the structure of the pedestal, the rendering of the animal skin which covers it, the ornament depiction of the loin cloth and yogic band and the round shaping of the face. This allows us to think that the one published by Lauf could be a faithful copy of another piece executed by the same artist at the same time as the portrait of rGod-taid-pa we are featuring here.

The inscription reveals the name of Chos-kyi od-zer, thanks to whom the sculpture was made but we do not know for sure if he was the artist or the donator. He might have been both. The only Chos-kyi «od-zer we can trace back at this time is a monk. We know very little about him but - according to professor Tucci - he was probably important enough, for the emperor of China gave him in 1510 one of the Fa-wang title meaning «King of the Dharma» . We might be dealing with one of the many names hardly used of a well known character. The deciphering of additional texts in the near future might solve this enigma.

However, owing to the refinement of its execution and because most probably it belongs to a set around gTsangsmyon, this uncommon andexceptional sculpture was conceived in a very specific intellectual and spiritual aimosphere. That is to say the milieu it comes from was educated enough to appreciate the smyon-pa movement and wealthy enough to require the skill of an extremely talented artist.