Sixth Dalai Lama
Gilt copper alloy
Sixth Dalai Lama
CHINA; Qing dynasty
The figure was created around the 18th century and is of the Sixth Dalai Lama. An inscription identifies the statue as Tsangyang Gyatso (reigned 1697–1706), which was the name of the Sixth Dalai Lama. He was an unusual holder of that title, and is remembered by later generations for his composition of love poetry.
The Dalai Lama wears a ritual hood and has large spirited eyes, red lips, and a mustache. The figure sits on a double-layered cushion and wears a monastic robe carved in smooth realistic folds. The left hand holds a vase while the right hand is raised in vitarka (teaching) mudra with an eight-petaled lotus visible on the palm. The stem of a long-stalked flower curls up to the shoulder, its shape and color resembles the peonies commonly seen in the Tibetan highlands.
For more details, go to the Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Sculpture N-Sr, page 1105.
Cite this article:
author = Hsingyun and Youheng and Lovelock, Yann and Chou, Yuan and Huntington, Susan and Edson, Gary and Neather, Robert,
booktitle = {Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Sculpture N-Sr},
pages = 1105,
title = {{Sixth Dalai Lama}},
volume = 12,
year = {2016}}