Religious Figure / Jetsün Drölma

50.31.60

Part of

Tibet collection

This internationally significant collection of over 2,000 Tibetan objects gives an insight into the lives of British India officers connected to Tibet and the Himalayas.

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About this object

Copper gilt statue of Ushnishavijaya or Jetsün Drölma. Figure seated on a double lotus pedestal in yogic or meditational pose. Both her hands are held above her lap holding a vase which contains the nectar of long life, out of which grows a flowering Ashoka twig. The vase has traces of green pigment, possibly an enamel. There is blue pigment to the ear ornaments and heavy blue pigment to the hair, which is separated into two pigtails at the back. There is additional red pigment to back of crown. She wears the five-jewelled crown and ornaments of the bodhisattva.

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Object specifics

Type

Religion
Culture

Tibetan
Artist/Maker
Place made

Asia: Central Asia: Tibet [China]
Date made

11th Century
Materials

Copper Alloy; Metal Gilt; Gold; Silver; Pigment
Location

Item not currently on display
Acquisition

From the Collection of Sir Charles Bell
Collector

Charles Alfred Bell
Place collected

Europe: Northern Europe: UK: England: Berkshire: Crowthorne
Date collected

1937-07-29
Measurements

145 mm x 90 mm x 55 mm; 5 11/16 in x 3 9/16 in x 2 3/16 in
Note

List of Curios No 288: Per Do-nam-pa Wangyal. Image of Jetsün Drölma given me by Do-nam-pa Wangyal on 29th July 1937 at Edgcumbe. He tells me as follows: This image is many hundreds of years old. It was made in India, not in Tibet, and was brought to Tibet in the old days when many Indian Buddhist priests came there. It was given to me by a friend of mine in the Dre-pung monastery. His ge-gen (spiritual teacher) having died, he has inherited the ge-gen's property and he has given this image to me. When a ge-gen dies, he is succeeded by his oldest disciple (ge-truk), who becomes ge-gen, and inherits the bulk of the former ge-gen's property. This image has been passed down from one ge-gen at Dre-pung to the next through numerous generations. It is not simple copper, but has gold, silver etc, mixed in to in the dze-kyi-ma process. Curator's note: The giver of this figure was Ngawang (or Geshe) Wangyal who accompanied Bell as translator on his trip to Manchuria, Mongolia and China. Geshe Wangyal established the Tibetan Buddhism teaching programme at Columbia University, USA. He travelled to the UK in 1937 to stay with the explorer Marco Pallis, visiting Bell during this trip. Written by Emma Martin
Related people

Charles Alfred Bell ( Collector); Ngawang Wangyal ( gifted by, previous owner)

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Publications

List of Curios
Bell, Charles Alfred

Author: Bell, Charles Alfred
Publisher:
Date:
Description: A typed object catalogue from Bell's handwritten notes on a wide variety of objects from his personal collection. This information often contains, the date he obtained an object, its provenance (including where and who he acquired from) and the person responsible for giving him the information. The process of writing the inventory began in December 1912 and continued until the late 1930s.

Ownership

Previous owners

Ngawang Wangyal
Owned from: Unknown or unrecorded
How acquired: Unknown or unrecorded
Owned until: 1937-07-29
Disposal method: Unknown or unrecorded

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