Provenance:
Galerie Koller, Zurich, November 26 & 27, 1993, no. 104
Sotheby’s, New York, March 23, 2000, no. 9
European Private Collection
Published:
Jeff Watt, Himalayan Art Resources, item no. 11651
Sangpo Bumtri, the creator deity of Bon and one of the ‘Four Transcendent Lords,’ is the god who brings forth the beings inhabiting the world. He has "neither eyes to see, nor hands to hold, nor ears to hear, or nose to smell, he has only his spirit.”
This handsome wood plaque depicts the deity seated in dhyanasana within a niche, his left hand in dhyana mudra and his right hand holding a dhvaja (banner). He is clad in a short dhoti, foliate armbands, necklaces, disk earrings, and a three-leaf crown. His throne has a lotus seat and is ornamented with pairs of lions, rampant vyalas, and makaras with scrolling foliage emerging from their tails on the sides, and garudas at the top and bottom. The recessed panel with slightly-pointed arched top is encircled by a beaded border.
In Bon theology, Sangpo Bumtri occupies a role analogous in some respects to the concept of a primordial Buddha: an eternal, self-arising source of all enlightened manifestations. As the progenitor of divine emanations and the embodiment of ultimate reality, he is central to Bon cosmology and soteriology. The depiction of this figure in a votive context reflects the enduring vitality of Bon practices in 13th-century Tibet, a period marked by both the consolidation of Buddhist institutions and the continued resilience and adaptation of indigenous religious traditions. This plaque thus represents not only a compelling example of Tibetan religious art but also an important testament to the theological richness and artistic sophistication of the Bon tradition during the medieval period.
For an analysis of the etymology of his name see P. Kvaerne, The Bon Religion of Tibet, Boston, 2001, pp. 26-27.
