STATUETTE DU CINQUIÈME SAKYA TRIDZIN, JETSUN DRAGPA GYALTSEN, EN ALLIAGE DE CUIVRE DORÉATTRIBUÉ À TSUGTOR (A. XVE SIÈCLE), TIBET, VERS 1479A Tibetan inscription identifying the subject, front center on the top of the lotus base, translated, 'Homage to Jetsun Dragpa'.Himalayan Art Resources item no. 4811treasuryoflives.org no. P161431.7 cm (12 1/2 in.) highProvenance: A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF THE FIFTH SAKYA TRIDZIN, JETSUN DRAGPA GYALTSEN ATTRIBUTED TO TSUGTOR (A. 15TH CENTURY), TIBET, CIRCA 1479西藏 約1479年 銅鎏金五世薩迦法王扎巴堅贊像 應為珠多之作（活躍於十五世紀）Provenance:With Claude de Marteau, Brussels, by 1970sThis outstanding gilded bronze depicts Jetsun Dragpa Gyaltsen (1147-1216), the Fifth Tridzin (Throne Holder) of the Sakya order of Tibetan Buddhism. Its caster, almost certainly a master artist named Tsugtor (a. 15th century) working for a Tibetan royal patron, reflects Dragpa Gyaltsen's quintessential portrait, recognizable for the shorn cut, groomed facial hair, and full-sleeved layman's cloak emblazoned with the Eight Auspicious Symbols (ashtamangala). Also regarded as the third of the Five Founding Fathers of the Sakya tradition (Jetsun Gongma Nga), Dragpa Gyaltsen is revered as a peerless tantric master believed to have conversed at times directly with tantric deities while developing many of the Sakya's core teachings (Dinwiddie (ed.), Portraits of the Masters, 2003, p. 207). As his impact in the field of tantric theory and practice would never be surpassed in the Sakya tradition, he is often represented with the same attributes and pose—crossing the vajra and ghanta before his chest—as the Primordial Buddha Vajradhara, who is considered the divine progenitor of most tantric cycles. This magnificent portrait can be attributed to the Tsugtor, who is known to have created gilt bronzes around 1479 for Sakyong Ayi Sengge, a prince of Mustang, which at the time was a wealthy, semi-independent kingdom controlling an important trade route linking Tibet and India. This information came to light through inscriptions naming artist and patron on two bronzes studied by Amy Heller. Undoubtedly from the same workshop as the present sculpture, both bronzes depict the Fourth Abbot of Ngor monastery, Gyaltshap Kunga Wangchuk (1424-78), and were offered at Sotheby's, New York, 19 March 2008, lots 306 & 307 (HAR 12576 & 12577). Gyaltshap Kunga Wangchuk collectively spent over a decade in Mustang before passing away there in 1478. The inscriptions indicate the portraits were royallymissioned in memoriam the following year in 1479, which appears to coincide with an historical record of golden statues being made for the lama's memorial ceremonies (after Heller; see the Ngor Abbots Lineage biographies, Ngor gdan rabs nor bu phreng ba,posed c. 1700, and see also Jackson, 'Sources on the Chronology and Succession of the Abbots of Ngor E-vam chos-Idan', in Berliner Indologische Studien, 1989, vol. 4/5, pp. 49-94). The twom