Tibet, two princesses

King Songtsen Gampo, who founded the Tibetan empire during the 7th century, is said to have five wives but only two of them are regularly depicted by his side (both Buddhist princesses, whom he married for political reasons).

9th century, Tibet, Princess Khri bstun, clay, at the Potala, Lhasa, photo 50623 in the Huntington Archive

Princess Bhrikuti Devi, from Nepal (Licchavi dynasty), wears a long silk garment fastened with a belt and an outer robe that covers her head and both shoulders. She is adorned with a headband and matching earrings.

9th century, Tibet, Princess Wen Cheng, clay, at the Potala in Lhasa, photo on Huntington Archive

Princess Wencheng, from China (Tang dynasty), wears a long-sleeve silk top tied with a belt, a small cape with a vajra design, a long lower garment with a lotus print. She is adorned with a very elegant headdress and diamond-shaped earrings.

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15th century, Tibet, King Srong btsan sgam po (Songtsen Gampo), silver, photo on Huntington Archive , at the Drepung Gompa (Tibet).

Dressed in Kingly attire and adorned with floral earrings and a short necklace, Songtsen Gampo wears the same type of truncated turban topped with the head of Amitabha as a sculpture of him kept at the Potala seen in a previous post (compare here ). Both works depict him without a moustache.

Late 17th century, Tibet, Songtsen Gampo and his two wives, clay (with cold gold and pigments), Jokhang/gTsug Lakhang, Lhasa, photo nº 51137 on Huntington Archive

We saw a photo of this sculpture but it was undated and showed only the king. This image shows his foreign wives, Princess Bhrikuti, of Nepalese origin, and Princess Wencheng, of Chinese origin.

Late 17th century, Tibet, Songtsen Gampo and his two wives, clay (with cold gold and pigments), Jokhang/gTsug Lakhang in Lhasa, photo nº 51138 in the Huntington Archive.

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17th century, Tibet, stone, labelled ‘Dharma King Ling Gesar’, private collection, photo on Christie’s.

A rare sculpture of the legendary king Ge-Sar of Ling. Depicted as a warrior on a horseback, he holds a bow and a quiver in his right hand, a staff with a banner in the other. (See about the epic of King Gesar here ).

Circa 1800, Tibet, Songtsen Gampo, gilt copper repoussé with cold gold, pigments, turquoise and coral inlay, private collection, photo on Sotheby’s, Paris.

One of the three great ‘dharma kings’ (thus named because they actively contributed to establishing Buddhism in Tibet), Songtsen Gampo is easily identified through the effigy of Amitabha on top of the turban usually worn by earlyTibetan kings. Adorned with princely jewellery and a five-leaf crown, his feet covered with thick felt boots, he holds a flaming wheel in his left hand and the stem of a lotus in the other, which makes the gesture of debate. We saw another two late works depicting a Tibetan king with one side only of his overgarment flowing upwards.

Circa 1800, Tibet, Trisong Detsen, gilt copper repoussé with cold gold, pigments, turquoise and coral inlay, private collection, photo on Sotheby’s, Paris.

Trisong Detsen holds a dharma wheel in his left hand and the stem of a lotus topped with the hilt of a sword. 

18th-19th century, Tibet, Ralpachen, gilt copper repoussé with cold gold, pigments, turquoise and coral inlay, private collection, photo on Sotheby’s as above.

It is the first time we come across a sculpture of king Ralpachen, identified by his beard and the vajra sceptre on the lotus in his right hand, as specified by Sotheby’s. Like the other two, he has a dharma wheel in his left hand.

18th century, Tibet, dharmaraja king dge.ba’i.dpal, gilt bronze, private collection, photo on Christie’s.

This personage seated on a throne supported by snow lions and decorated with lotus buds at the corners wears the garments and headdress of a Tibetan king, and is classified as such on Himalayan Art Resources. Yet, according to Christie’s, an inscription on the reverse of the base identifies him as Kalyanasri or Kushalasri ‘the splendid Dharma king of the holy Buddhist country (India)’. Kalyana Shri was king of Bengal and the father of Atisha; dge.ba’i.dpal is his name in Tibetan. His hands are held before his chest as if to hold a wish-granting gem.

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15th century, Tibet, 1st king of Tibet (of the Tibetan empire?), gilt bronze, private collection, photo onNagel.

Like most images of Songtsen Gampo, 33rd king of Tibet and founder of the Tibetan empire, this personage wears a turban shaped like a truncated cone topped with Amitabha’s head. He is seated on an antelope skin over a cushion atop a throne decorated with a visvajra at the front and holds a long-life vase in his left hand.

Undated, Tibet, Songtsen Gampo, at the Potala, photo by Ernst Krause, suggested by Matt, a reader of this blog, published on wikimedia.

19th century, Tibet, Songtsen Gampo, copper alloy with cold gold, pigments and turquoise, private collection, photo by Sotheby’s

Sculptures of Tibetan kings are so rare that even fairly recent ones have a place in this post. On both images he is seated on two square cushions covered with an antelope skin and wears a necklace with a very large amulet box.

16th century, Tibet, probably King Kunzang Nyida Drakpa, gilt copper alloy with silver inlaid eyes, private collection, photo by on Bonhams

According to an inscription on the base, this is probably a portrait of Kunzang Nyida Drakpa made during his life time. The king appears as a mahasiddha, seated on a tiger skin and adorned with the usual bone jewellery, cross-belt and spiral earrings, holding a vajra sceptre and a long-life vase.

17th-18th century, Tibet, King Lha Thothori Nyanshal, 28th king of Tibet, bronze with lacquer and gilding, private collection, photo by Jacques How Choong.

An inscription on the base identifies this king, about whom very little is known.

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16th century, Tibet, Songtsen Gampo, gilt copper alloy, photo on HAR , at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Museum in Mumbai (India).

King Songtsen Gampo is seated at royal ease, his right hand doing the fear-allaying gesture, the other resting over his knee. He wears a truncated conical hat topped with the head of Amitabha.

Undated, King Songtsen Gampo in his meditation cave at Yerpa, Tibet, photo on wikipedia

The thirty-third king of Tibet lived during the 7th century and introduced Buddhism to Tibet well before Padmasambhava was invited there by his grandson.

King Songtsen Gampo, Tibet, Trandruk Temple Monastery, Yarlung Valley, photo by Robert Fried on Alamy

He came from the Yarlung dynasty, based in Central Tibet.

King Songtsen Gampo, Tibet, Yumbulagang, Yarlung Valley, photo by Erik Törner here .

In an effort to strengthen the bond between the various Tibetan people and unifying the small kingdoms of Tibet, he wished for a written version of the Tibetan language to be invented. Thus the Tibetan alphabet and grammar were born.

Undated, Tibet, king Songtsen Gampo and his two wives, at the Jokhang in Lhasa, published on http://www.rinpoche.com.

He had two wives, one from Nepal and another from China.

18th-19th century, Tibet, king Songtsen Gampo, papier mâché and leather ties, from the Bruce Miller collection on loan at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York (USA).

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14th century, Tibet, dharma king, gilt copper with cold gold and pigments, at the Potala in Lhasa, published on asianart.com in Michael Henss’s review of the exhibition and corresponding book ‘Tibet – Monasteries Open their Treasure Rooms’.

This character with a kingly appearance wears a three-leaf crown inlaid with stones, a fine outer robe with embroidered collar and cuffs, two chokers and small lotus earrings. His hands, in the meditation gesture, may have held an attribute. Experts don’t seem to agree as to whether this is an idealised portrait of an historical king, a mythical king or a deity, such as Amitayus, although the overcoat held in place with a belt suggests the former.

15th century, Tibet, King Khri.srong.lde.btsan (Trisong Detsen), bronze, private collection, photo on Christie’s

Trisong Detsen normally has both hands in the ‘turning the wheel of dharma’ gesture, or he holds a wheel of dharma with both hands.

Probably King Songtsen Gampo, Tibet, 18th century, gilt copper alloy, private collection, photo on Bonhams

The way this noble man holds his right hand, with the forefinger pressed against the thumb, is associated with king Songtsen Gampo, whose (broken) headdress would have been topped with an effigy of Amitabha. He is seated on an animal skin (antelope or deer) placed on two cushions covered with a cloth (typical of the 18th century).

18th century, Tibet, king, parcel gilt copper alloy with stone inlay, private collection, photo by Nagel.

This unidentified Tibetan king has a raining jewel in his right hand and another object in the left hand. There is a set of three flaming jewels (triratna) on top of his head.

A view of the back shows us that his hair is wrapped in cloth, and his robe decorated with an incised visvajra motif.

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Undated, Tibet, King Songtsen Gampo, gilt metal, photo on HAR , at the Capital Museum in Beijing (China).

Songtsen Gampo is usually depicted seated with one leg unfolded, wearing a thick gown fastened with a belt, and thick felt boots. He often holds a long-life vase or a triple gem (as above and below) in one or both hands.

Undated, Tibet, King Songtsen Gampo, gilt metal, private collection, items 11044 and 58367 on Himalayan Art Resources.

His legs may be locked in the vajra position.

Undated, Tibet, Songtsen Gampo, gilt metal with cold gold and pigments, in Lhasa, Tibet, photo on lalitavistara

He wears a tall turban wrapped around his head, like a truncated cone, and topped with the head of Amitabha. A  long strand of plaited hair falls on each shoulder. The above example has a moustache and goatee like Padmasambhava.

Same as above, at the Jowo Lakhang in Lhasa, published on Buddhist Encyclopedia

He often wears large earrings which can range from simple to very elaborate designs.

16th century, Tibet, King Songtsen Gampo, gilt copper with cold gold and pigments, is or was at the gTsug Lakhang, published by Ulrich von Schroeder.

On this sculpture, the king sits on an elaborate throne supported by two lions and two elephants, a long-life vase at the front, a row of vajra sceptres at the bottom. The back panel is decorated with a garuda at the top and other mythical creatures on the sides. There is a bowl under his right hand.

Tibet, King Songtsen Gampo

King Songtsen Gampo, 13th-14th century, Tibet, gilt copper, cold gold and pigments, item 101501 and 30296 on HAR , is or was at the Potala in Lhasa (Tibet).

King Songtsen Gampo, Tibet, 15th century, copper alloy and cold gold, inlaid with turquoise and a crystal cabochon in his crown, photo on HAR , at the Museum der Kulturen in Basel (Switzerland).

King Songtsen Gampo, Tibet, 17th century, gilt copper with turquoise inlay, private collection, photo by Marcel Nies.

King Songtsen Gampo, 17th century, Central Tibet, gilt brass, lapis lazuli in hair, long-life vase missing from his hand, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (USA).