Tucker2012

JONATHAN TUCKER

ANTONIA TOZER

ASIAN ART

AN IMPORTANT GROUP OF

SCULPTURES FROM INDIA

SOUTHEAST ASIA AND CHINA

JONATHAN TUCKER ANTONIA TOZER ASIAN ART

WE ALSO CONDUCT APPRAISALS, INSURANCE VALUATIONS AND RESEARCH OF WORKS OF ART

GALLERY OPENING HOURS

Monday to Friday 10am-6pm

Saturday 3rd November 10am-5pm

Sunday 4th November 11am-9pm

For further information please telephone

Jonathan Tucker or Antonia Tozer on 020 7839 3414,

e-mail [email protected] or [email protected],

or visit the exhibition online at our website:

www.asianartresource.com


37 Bury Street St James's London SW1Y 6AU

Tel: 020 7839 3414 Fax: 020 7839 3415

All works of art are for sale

subject to availability,

unless previously sold

A N E X H I B I T I O N F O R S A L E

Thursday 1st November 2012

to Friday 23rd November 2012

AN IMPORTANT GROUP OF

SCULPTURES FROM INDIA

SOUTHEAST ASIA AND CHINA

We are pleased to announce details of our

forthcoming exhibition for this, our thirteenth

year of participation in Asian Art in London.

This year’s exhibition will be held at our gallery

from Thursday 1st November to Friday 23rd

November 2012 and will include a selection of

sculptures from India, Southeast Asia and China

in stone, bronze, stucco, terracotta and wood.

Among this year’s highlights are a magnificent

group of Gandhara sculptures including a grey

schist relief depicting Panchika and Hariti,

a Ganesha and a Vishnu, both from India’s

Pala period and a number of Khmer sculptures

from a collection in France. We also have a

spectacular Dong Son drum, a seated

Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara from Vietnam

and a number of Buddha images from

Thailand and Burma including a Pagan

period bronze and a Mon-Dvaravati image.

Antonia and I look forward to welcoming

you to the gallery once again for this year’s

exhibition and would be delighted to

answer any questions you may have, either

before or during the event.

We would like to take this opportunity, once

again, to express our thanks to Alan Tabor

for his exceptional photography and to

Peter Keenan for his outstanding design.

I N TRODUCT ION JONATHAN TUCKER AND ANTONIA TOZER

SCHIST RELIEF OF PANCHIKA AND HARITI

GANDHARA

2ND - 3RD CENTURY AD

H. 40 CMS, 15 ¾ INS

W. 36 CMS, 14 INS

An exceptional grey schist relief depicting Panchika and

Hariti enthroned, the former seated in the European posture

with his left hand lightly touching the leg of his companion,

bare-chested and muscular, wearing a knee-length sampot

with multiple pleats, the face calm and serene beneath a

finely detailed wavy coiffure secured by a diadem, Hariti

resplendent in a Grecian dress which accentuates her

curves and wearing a broad necklace and earrings, her face

turned towards her consort and set with a gentle smile,

with an unusual coiffure secured by an elaborate diadem.

The Indian deities Panchika (also called Kubera) and his

consort Hariti are the gods of riches and fertility. The spear

that Panchika sometimes carries is a reference to his other

role, that of war-lord, or general of the yakshas. Hariti is

often depicted with children around her and holding

a cornucopia.

For a fine relief depicting Panchika and Hariti in the

Peshawar museum see no. 342 in H. Ingholt and F. Lyons,

Gandharan Art in Pakistan, New York: Pantheon Books, 1957.

For a Panchika-Hariti relief in the British Museum with

similar coiffures see fig. 139 in F. Tissot, The Art of Gandhara,

Paris: Librairie Adrien Maisonneuve, 1986. Fig. 140 (ibid.)

shows a related relief in the Musée Guimet.

PROVENANCE:

Private English collection since the 1970s.

1

G A N D H A R A

STUCCO BUDDHA HEAD

GANDHARA

4TH - 5TH CENTURY AD

H. 21 CMS, 8 ¼ INS

A graceful, serene dark grey patinated stucco head of the

Buddha, the eyes half-open in meditation and the mouth set

with a gentle smile; the hair rising in waves to form a

bun-shaped usnisha.

The use of stucco and terracotta as a substitute for the grey

schist of many early Gandhara sculptures led to a greater

freedom of expression and innovation.

Perhaps the finest of all the many examples of stucco

Buddha heads is the one in the Victoria and Albert

Museum. Widely published and admired, it is

variously ascribed to either Hadda or Taxila -

see catalogue no. 120 in Stanislaw Czuma,

Kushan Sculpture: Images from early

India, Cleveland Museum of

Art, 1985.

PROVENANCE:

Previously in a private

Swiss collection.

Acquired from Spink and

Son Ltd in the 1980s.

2

STUCCO BODHISATTVA HEAD

GANDHARA


H. 18 CMS, 7 INS

An exquisite white stucco head of a Bodhisattva, the face

gentle and serene, with a narrow mouth and almond shaped

eyes, wearing heavy earrings, his hair arranged in a row of

symmetrical curls held in place by a diadem.

A Bodhisattva is a person who has attained enlightenment

and is a potential Buddha but who rejects nirvana in order

to assist with the suffering of mankind.

For a similar head in a private Japanese collection, please

ee no. 337 in I. Kurita, Gandharan Art II: The World of the

Buddha, Tokyo: Nigensha publishing, 2003. For another

example in the British Museum, see cat. no. 596 in W. Zwalf,

A Catalogue of the Gandhara Sculpture in the British

Museum, London: British Museum Press, 1996.

PROVENANCE:

Private American collection.

Kept in Switzerland since

the mid-1960s.

3

LARGE TERRACOTTA HEAD OF A BODHISATTVA

GANDHARA,

HADDA STYLE


H. 35 CMS, 13 ¾ INS

An outstanding reddish terracotta head

of a Bodhisattva, with a tranquil dreamlike

expression and wavy swept-back hair,

wearing heavy pendant earrings and a

complex diadem with Bacchanalian motifs,

extensive traces of pigments remaining.

A Bodhisattva is a person who has attained

enlightenment and is a potential Buddha

but who rejects nirvana in order to assist

with the suffering of mankind.

This exquisitely beautiful sculpture,

modelled in an extravagant and confident

manner, was probably once part of a

tableau scene depicting one of the jatakas,

(an event from the Buddha’s life). It is

reminiscent of the figures in the large

stucco reliefs from the monastery at Tapa

Shotor, Hadda, Afghanistan, now destroyed

and visible only in photographs.

For a similar Bodhisattva head in stucco

from Hadda, see cat. no. 62 in Afghanistan:

Une histoire millénaire, Exposition

organisée par la Réunion des Musées

nationaux, le Musée National des Arts

Asiatiques-Guimet et la Fundacion la Caixa,

Barcelone, Paris, 2002. For a further stucco

example from the Heeramaneck Collection

in the L.A. County Museum, see cat. no. 126 in Stanislaw

Czuma, Kushan Sculpture: Images from early India, Cleveland

Museum of Art, 1985. The floral crown is reminiscent of the

celebrated, small female head in the Peshawar Museum -

see no. 512 in H. Ingholt and F. Lyons, Gandharan Art in

Pakistan, New York: Pantheon Books, 1957.

PROVENANCE:

Private English collection. Acquired by the owner’s late

father during employment with the British Foreign Service

in the 1960s.

4

TERRACOTTA BUDDHIST TRIPTYCH

GANDHARA

3RD – 4TH CENTURY

H. (SEATED MAITREYA) 39 CMS, 15 ¼ INS

(STANDING BUDDHA) 54.5 CMS, 21 ½ INS

(STANDING BODHISATTVA) 52 CMS, 20 ½ INS

A terracotta triptych comprising a seated Maitreya (the

Future Buddha) on a lotus pedestal, flanked by a pair of

figures of a standing Buddha and a Bodhisattva.

For two stucco examples of the flanking figures see cat.

nos. 305 and 335 in I. Kurita, Gandharan Art II: The World of

the Buddha, Tokyo: Nigensha publishing, 2003. For a schist

example of the seated figure, please see cat. no. 142 in

Deborah E. Klimburg-Salter, Buddha in Indien, Vienna:

Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, 1995.

Note: All three figures have old repairs and restorations.

PROVENANCE:

Private English collection. Reputedly from

Spink and Son Ltd.

5

SMALL SCHIST F IGURE OF MAITREYA

GANDHARA

5TH – 6TH CENTURY

H. 8.5 CMS, 3 ¼ INS

A finely detailed, polished greyish-brown schist figure of

the Bodhisattva Maitreya (the Future Buddha), his left hand

holding a flask and his right raised in abhayamudra (the

gesture of dispelling fear), a long lotus-stem at his right

shoulder, wearing an intricate diadem, a pleated ankle-length

dhoti and elaborate jewellery.

For a related figure of a contemplative Bodhisattva, see

cat. no. 80 in Martin Lerner and Steven M. Kossak, The Lotus

Transcendent: Indian and Southeast Asian Sculpture from

the Samuel Eilenberg Collection, New York: Metropolitan

Museum of Art, 1991.

6

TERRACOTTA PLAQUE WITH A DEPICTION OF HARITI

INDIA, BENGAL, CHANDRAKETUGARH

SHUNGA PERIOD

CIRCA 2ND CENTURY BC

H. 18 CMS, 7 INS

A moulded terracotta plaque depicting Hariti, protectress

of children, full-figured and smiling, with each hand

shielding an infant.

In Buddhist mythology, Hariti was a child-devouring ogress

who is said to have been converted from her cannibalistic

habits by the Buddha to become a protectress of children.

He hid the youngest of her own 500 children under his

begging bowl, and thus made her realize the sorrow she

was causing other parents.

For two related examples from Chandraketugarh in the

Calcutta (Kolkata) Museum, see fig. 2, p. 62 and fig. 11, p. 67

in P. Pal (ed.), Indian Terracotta Sculpture of the Early Period,

Mumbai: Marg publications, 2002.

PROVENANCE:

Private collection Cheltenham, UK.

I N D I A

7

A BLACK STONE STELE OF GANESHA

NORTHEASTERN INDIA, PROBABLY BIHAR

PALA PERIOD

CIRCA 10TH CENTURY

H. 53 CMS, 21 INS

A black stone stele depicting the elephant-headed deity

Ganesha seated in lalitasana (‘royal ease’) atop a cushion, his

four hands holding a radish, a ritual axe, a bowl of sweets and

a rosary, wearing a short dhoti and an upavita (sacred thread)

across his chest, his ears and trunk with incised detail, his trunk

curled to his left, backed by a mandorla edged with beading

and flames; his rat vehicle at his feet.

For a similar, slightly later seated Ganesha in the Portland Art

Museum, please see the following link:

http://tinyurl.com/6tbyemf

PROVENANCE:


Acquired from Patrick Dunbar Antiques, New Mexico,

who acquired it in the late 1970s.

8

A BLACK STONE STELE OF VISHNU

NORTHEAST INDIA, BENGAL

PALA PERIOD

CIRCA 12TH CENTURY

H. 69 CMS, 27 INS

A black stone (phyllite) stele depicting Vishnu standing on

a double lotus pedestal and holding his attributes of a club,

disc, a lotus and a conch, flanked by a diminutive Lakshmi

holding a fly whisk and Sarasvati playing the vina, with their

attendants at their sides, the periphery with leogryphs and

hamsa (royal geese), the aureole with a Kala mask (a ‘face of

glory’) at the apex flanked by apsara figures; a row of adorants

and a stupa-shaped structure along the lower front.

Vishnu, together with Brahma and Siva, is one of the members

of the Hindu trimurti (Skt. ‘Triple Form’). Vishnu becomes

incarnate in different divine forms (avatars) from age to age

in order to preserve the world.

For a similar Vishnu see cat. no. 36 in Susan Huntington and

John Huntington, Leaves from the Bodhi Tree: The Art of Pala

India and Its International Legacy, Dayton Art Institute, 1990.

PROVENANCE:


Acquired from Patrick Dunbar Antiques, New Mexico,

who acquired it in the late 1970s.

9

STELE DEPICTING VISHNU WITH CONSORTS

SOUTH INDIA, KARNATAKA

HOYSALA PERIOD

12TH CENTURY

DIMENSIONS: 102 CMS X 50 CMS X 25.5 CMS;

40 INS X 19 ½ INS X 10 INS

A large, powerfully sculpted stele, carved from dark grey

chloritic schist, depicting a four-armed standing figure of

Vishnu with an elaborate coiffure and ornamented with a

headband, necklaces, earrings and basubands, holding a conch

on his upper right hand and a chakra (solar disc) in his upper

left, with his consorts Lakshmi and Bhumi at his feet; the

aureole surmounted by a kirttimukha (‘face of glory’) mask.





The Hoysala Empire was a prominent South Indian domain

that ruled much of the modern state of Karnataka from the

10th to 14th centuries. The capital of the Hoysalas was initially

located at Belur but was subsequently moved to Halebid.

The Hoysalas were enthusiastic patrons of literature, the arts,

architecture and religion.

The Musée Guimet, Paris has a Hoysala period Vishnu of

similar date - see cat. no. 71 in A. Okada, Sculptures Indiennes

du Musée Guimet, Paris: Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 2000.

For a similar statue of Lord Vishnu at the Keshava Temple,

Somnathpur, see the following link:

http://tinylink.in/PR6

PROVENANCE:

Estate of the late James A. Schalk, Cincinnati, Ohio,

acquired in 1976.

Previous owner: Michael Patrick, Miami Beach,

acquired in 1963.

10

BRONZE FIGURE OF KRISHNA DANCING ON KALIYA

SOUTH INDIA

LATE CHOLA OR EARLY VIJAYANAGAR PERIOD

13TH - 14TH CENTURY

H. 10.8 CMS, 4 ¼ INS

A dynamic, finely cast figure of Krishna vanquishing the

serpent demon Kaliya, his right hand raised in abhayamudra

(the gesture of dispelling fear) and his extended left arm

holding the serpent’s tail.

The story of Krishna and Kaliya the serpent is well known.

Kaliya, a naga (an aquatic serpent demon), had been

occupying the river Yamuna and its banks near Mathura to

the south of Delhi. It had poisoned the waters of the Yamuna

and terrorised the local populace. Krishna leapt into the water,

grappled with and vanquished Kaliya, dancing triumphantly

on its head and intending to kill it. Kaliya’s wives beseeched

Krishna to spare him and this he did, on the condition that

they all depart the waters of the Yamuna.

For a fine example of similar date in the Museum of Indian

art, Berlin, see cat. no. 91 in M. Yaldiz, R.D. Gadebusch et al,

Magische Götterwelten: Werke aus dem Museum für Indische

Kunst Berlin. Berlin: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin-Preußischer

Kulturbesitz, 2000. The L.A. County Museum has a further

example – see no. 81 in P. Pal, The Sensuous Immortals:

A Selection of Sculptures from the Pan-Asian Collection,

L.A. County Museum of Art, 1977.

PROVENANCE:

Private English collection.

11

SANDSTONE APSARA

CENTRAL INDIA, PROBABLY MADHYA PRADESH

10TH - 11TH CENTURY

H. 56 CMS, 22 INS

A sensuous, exquisitely carved yellowish sandstone apsara

(celestial deity), her right hand placed upon her hip, wearing a

diaphanous robe with trailing scarves, extensive jewellery and

a multi-stranded belt; with a trailing pleat between her legs.

Mounted on a solid, polished, black marble base.

For a related example, please see cat. no. 46 in P. Pal, The

Sensuous Immortals: A Selection of Sculptures from the

Pan-Asian Collection, L.A. County Museum of Art, 1977.

PROVENANCE:


12

POLISHED BLACK BASALT DURGA STELE

NORTHEAST INDIA, ORISSA

13TH CENTURY

H. 69 CMS, 27 INS

A magnificent polished black basalt figure of an eight-armed

Durga (the fierce form of Shiva’s consort) killing the Buffalo

Demon (Mahisamardini), holding an array of weapons in her

hands, her enemy supine at her feet with his head struck off

as the goddess impales him with her trident, her lion vehicle

(vahana) gnawing at her victim’s knee as he wields a kanjarli

(a curved, double-edged blade), the pedestal with

overlapping lotus petals.

For a virtually identical example in the British Museum,

eportedly from the Konarak Temple, Orissa, see the following

link: http://tinyurl.com/96pbznt

Note: This sculpture has old repairs and restorations.

PROVENANCE:

Private UK collection.

13

BLACK CHLORITE BUDDHA TRIPTYCH

NEPAL

LICCHAVI PERIOD

CIRCA 8TH CENTURY

H. 18.5 CMS, 7 ¼ INS

W. 18.5 CMS, 7 ¼ INS

An exceptionally rare, polished black chlorite stele depicting

Buddha Sakyamuni seated in vajrasana on a double-lotus

pedestal, his hands raised in dharmachakramudra (the gesture

of teaching), flanked by a pair of crowned bodhisattvas, one

holding a lotus and the other a fly whisk, each of the three

figures with an oval halo fringed with a flame motif and

backed by an arched nimbus with further flame edging, a

diminutive attendant in the lower right corner.

The Licchavis of Nepal were a local dynasty based in the

Kathmandu Valley who oversaw the development of the first

truly Nepalese state. The earliest known Licchavi record, an

inscription of Manadeva I, dates from 464 and mentions three

preceding rulers, suggesting that the dynasty began in the late

fourth century. The last Licchavi inscription was in 733 AD. One

of the main contributions of Nepal during this period was the

transmission of Buddhist culture to Tibet and all of central Asia,

through merchants, pilgrims, and missionaries. In return, Nepal

derived revenue from customs duties and goods that helped

to support the Licchavi state, as well as the artistic heritage

that made the valley famous.

Early Nepali images of this type derive from the sculpture of

the northern Indian city of Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh (site of the

Buddha’s first sermon) - see cat. no. 51 in Pal, P. et al. Light of

Asia: Buddha Sakyamuni in Asian Art. Los Angeles: L.A. County

Museum of Art, 1984. For a Nepalese Buddha triptych of

similar date, see cat. no. 107 (ibid.).

PROVENANCE:


14

N E P A L

WOOD PANEL WITH INDRA AND SACHI

NEPAL, KATHMANDU VALLEY

MID 18TH CENTURY

DATED 879 (NEPALESE SAMBAT), 1758 AD

H. 41 CMS, 16 ¼ INS

A delightful carved wood relief depicting Indra and his

consort Sachi, seated atop a pair of recumbent elephants,

each wearing extensive jewellery and with their hands raised

in abhyamudra (the gesture of dispelling fear), backed by an

arched, flame-fringed nimbus surmounted by a pair of birds

and a kirttimukha (‘face of glory’) devouring his own tail; the

pedestal with three adorants and a dedicatory inscription.

Indra is the leader of the Devas or gods and Lord of Svargaloka

(or ‘heaven’) in Hindu mythology. He is the God of war and of

thunderstorms and his weapon is the lightning-bolt (vajra).

Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda and is the twin

brother of Agni. His consort is Sachi, also known as Indrani

(‘Queen of Indra’).

This sculpture has a dedicatory inscription which includes

a Nepalese Sambat date of 879, equivalent to 1758 AD.

For a closely related wood carving in the Indian Museum,

Kolkata (Calcutta), see cat. no. 68 in Amita Ray, Art of Nepal,

New Delhi: Indian Council for Cultural Relations, 1973.

See also cat. no. 67 (ibid.).

PROVENANCE:


15

BRONZE RAIN DRUM

VIETNAM, DONG SON CULTURE

HEGER TYPE I

3RD CENTURY BC – 1ST CENTURY AD

H. 42 CMS, 16 ½ INS

D. 58 CMS, 23 INS

An exceptionally rare bronze kettle-drum, of waisted form,

cast by the piece-mould method, with an attractive deep

green patina, the tympanum with a 12-point star at its centre

surrounded by concentric bands of varying widths containing

designs of circles, vertical lines and geometric scrollwork, the

widest band with flying bird motifs, the sides with two

pairs of ‘rope’ handles and further bands of circular and

geometric designs.

Dong Son drums, also known as Heger Type I drums, are

mainly attributed to the Dong Son culture, centred on the

Red River Delta of northern Vietnam. They were produced

from around 600 BC until the third century AD and have been

found across a vast area of Southeast Asia from Vietnam and

Southern China to eastern Indonesia. There has been much

speculation as to whether the drums were made for religious

ceremonies such as harvest rituals or burials, served to rally

men for war, or if they had a more secular role. In folk lore

they are known as ‘rain drums’ and are played to summon

rain or to placate storms.

For a similar drum see p. 54 in Ha Thuc Can, The Bronze Dong

Son Drums, Singapore and Hong Kong, 1989. See also cat.

no. 3 in N. Tingley, Arts of Ancient Vietnam: From River Plain to

Open Sea, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 2009.

Note: This drum has old repairs and restorations.

PROVENANCE:


16

S O U T H E A S T A S I A

V I E T N A M

LACQUERED WOOD BODHISATTVAAVALOKITESVARA

VIETNAM

LATER LE DYNASTY, 1428 - 1788

17TH - 18TH CENTURY

H. 66 CMS, 26 INS

A serene, elegant lacquered and gilded wood figure of the

Avalokitesvara, the Bodhisattva of wisdom and compassion,

the face with a gentle smile, wearing thick robes that leave

his midriff exposed, seated cross-legged with his right hand

resting in his lap in apanmudra (‘energy’ mudra) and holding

a fold of his robe, the left hand raised in abhayamudra

(the gesture of dispelling fear), wearing a flat-topped crown

with lotus motifs.

During the 17th century the Le kings of Vietnam ruled as

figureheads and were manipulated by the Trinh clan leaders.

Seven civil wars involving the Trinh’s rivals, the Nguyen,

took place between 1627 and 1672 but the period was,

nonetheless, a cultured one. The rival lords built palaces and

temples in their efforts to impress each other, and Buddhism

became increasingly popular.

The subtle, understated beauty of this sculpture places it in

the 17th or 18th century heyday of the Later Le dynasty –

for other examples see p. 139 in Luu Tran Tieu et al (eds.),

Vietnamese Antiquities, Hanoi: Department of Conservation

and Museology - National Museum of Vietnamese History,

2003. See also nos. 132 and 159 in Phan Cam Thuong, Ancient

Sculpture of Vietnam, Fine Arts Publishing House, 1997.

PROVENANCE:


17

BRONZE STANDING BUDDHA

BURMA

PAGAN PERIOD

12TH CENTURY

H. 20 CMS, 8 INS

A rare and important bronze figure of Buddha Sakyamuni

standing on a circular pedestal, his face smiling and serene,

his sanghati (monastic robes) modelled with rippling folds,

with his left hand holding a hem of his robe and his right

hand raised in abhayamudra (the gesture of dispelling fear),

the reverse with an attachment loop for a halo.

A Tibetan-Burman race known as the Mranma established

their capital at Pagan, on the left bank of the Irrawaddy in

Burma’s dry zone. The founder of the Pagan dynasty,

Anawrahta (r. 1044 - 1077), launched a series of military

campaigns against Arakan in the west, the Shan in the east

and the Mon kingdom to the south, thereby uniting Burma

for the first time in its history. Anawrahta and his successors

embraced the Theravada Buddhism of Sri Lanka and built

approximately two thousand temples, stupas, monasteries,

libraries and ordination halls - the largest concentration of

monuments in the entire Buddhist world. The city fell to the

Mongols in 1287 and political power became dispersed

among the Mon, Shan, Burmese and Arakanese.

Sylvia Fraser-Lu has written a concise summary of the

features of Pagan standing bronze Buddhas:

‘The form of the Pagan standing image resembles that of the

colossal Gupta image of Sultanganj now in the Birmingham

City Museum and Art Gallery, England. In this style Lord

Buddha stands serenely on a plain round, or lotus, pedestal.

The hands are beautifully moulded; the right hand is raised

from the elbow in abhaya, while the left holds a lapel. Clothing

appears as sheer muslin and clings to the body to reveal a

broad shouldered figure tapering to a narrow waist, rounding

out at the thighs to give a slightly feminine aspect, which

does not detract from the general manliness of the statue

as a whole. Both shoulders are covered and the folding of the

gown is confined to the periphery. A line below the navel

18

marks the lower garment and the hem is shown by a double

wavy line at ankle level. As with stone sculpture of the same

period, the face is oval to triangular with a slightly pointed

chin. The eyebrow arches are almost joined together in a

V-shape and in many cases are set with an urna (a mark of

Buddha-hood in the middle of the forehead). The eyes gaze

down past a long aquiline nose and a small smiling mouth.

The elongated ears do not touch the shoulders. The head,

covered in rounded curls, is crested by a flame niche above

the usnisha which is set well to the back of the head. Images

range in height from the colossal 13 feet of a standing

Buddha, at the Shwezigon in Pagan, to the miniature 5-1/2

inches of another from a relic chamber at Myinpagan.’

[See Sylvia Fraser-Lu, Buddha Images from Burma, Part II:

Bronze and Related Metals, Arts of Asia, March 1981].

For a photo of the 13 feet tall Shwezigon Pagoda bronze

Buddha, see Sylvia Fraser-Lu (ibid.). For three, more typical

examples see plate 430a-c in Gordon Luce, Old Burma-Early

Pagan, 3 vols, New York (Locust Valley): JJ Augustin

Publishers, 1970.

PROVENANCE:


B U R M A

PAINTED WOOD SANTOS FIGURE OF ST. IS IDORE

HISPANO-PHILIPPINES

18TH CENTURY

H. 33 CMS, 13 INS

A delightful painted wood santos figure of St Isidore, with long

black hair and a thick beard, wearing long boots and a simple

coat secured at the waist with a belt, his right hand raised to

hold a staff and his left by his side.

Saint Isidore (‘the Farmer’), whose memorial day is the 15th

May, was a pious man of the land married to (Saint) Mary de la

Cabeza. Their son died young and they became convinced it

was the will of God that they not have children: living together

chastely for the rest of their lives and performing good works.

Accused by fellow workers of shirking his duties by attending

Mass each day and taking time out for prayers, Isidore claimed

he had no choice but to follow the highest Master. One tale

says that when his master came in the morning to chastise him

for skipping work for church, he found angels ploughing the

fields in place of Isidore. Miracles and cures were reported at

his grave, in which his body remained incorrupt.

For an ivory example see p. 129 in Regalado Trota José, Images

of Faith: Religious Ivory Carvings from the Philippines, Pasadena:

Pacific Asia Museum, 1990.

PROVENANCE:

Private German collection.

19

P H I L I P P I N E S

BRONZE SEATED BUDDHA WITH ROCK CRYSTAL FINIAL

LAOS, VIENTIANE AREA

17TH - 18TH CENTURY

H. 23.5 CMS, 9 ¼ INS

A slender, elegantly cast bronze figure of the Buddha, seated

in bhumisparsimudra (the gesture of ‘summoning the earth

to witness’) on a tapered pedestal with rounded cross shaped

holes, the face smiling and serene beneath a domed usnisha

rising to a highly unusual rock crystal finial, with traces of

gilding remaining.

The Lao kingdom of Lan Xang, or Lan Chang was established

in 1354 by Prince Fa Ngum (1316-1393), who spent his

childhood years at the Khmer capital of Angkor. Under his rule

the kingdom became powerful and wealthy and extended to

cover the northeast region of present-day Thailand. By the

17th century Lan Xang entered a period of decline marked

by dynastic struggles and conflicts with its neighbours, and

control was eventually lost to Siam. In 1707 it was divided into

two principalities centred on Luang Prabang in the north and

Vientiane to the south. Theravada Buddhism is the country’s

predominant religion.

This lovely, charismatic Buddha has an exact-fitting, detachable

rock crystal finial that appears to be more ancient than the

sculpture itself and it may have been the case that the statue

was cast as an act of reverence to accommodate it.

For a comparable example from the Vientiane area, please

see page 199 (bottom right) in S. Lopetcharat, Lao Buddha:

The Image and Its History, Bangkok: Siam International Book

Company, 2000. For a Buddha pedestal with similarly shaped

holes, see page 188 (ibid.).

PROVENANCE:


20

L A O S

FOUR-ARMED FEMALE DEITY (DEVI )

KHMER

PRE-ANGKOR PERIOD

PREI KMENG STYLE

LATE 7TH – EARLY 8TH CENTURY

H. 73 CMS, 28 ¾ INS

A graceful, superbly modelled reddish grey

sandstone figure of a four-armed female

deity, perhaps Uma (consort of the

Hindu god Shiva), standing with her

feet apart on a rectangular pedestal,

naked to the waist, wearing an

ankle-length sampot with incised folds

and secured at the midriff with an

aubergine-shaped knot, her face smiling

and serene, with a narrow mouth, petite nose

and pronounced arching eyebrows beneath

a tall mitred headdress.

This superb image lacks the attributes her missing hands

would once have held, making identification tentative at best.

There are a number of examples of the goddess Durga in

similar style (identified by a buffalo head on the pedestal) -

see figs 6, 7 and 8 in Khun Samen, Preah Neang Tevi: Collections

of the National Museum Phnom Penh, Phnom Penh: Department

of Museums, 2005 and cat. no. 62 in Khun Samen, The New

Guide to the National Museum, Phnom Penh, Cambodian

Ministry of Culture, 2nd edition, 2006. For a fine example of

a four-armed figure, identified as Uma, in the Metropolitan

Museum see pl. 8 in Wolfgang Felten and Martin Lerner,

Thai and Cambodian Sculpture from the 6th to the 14th

Centuries, London: Philip Wilson Publishers, 1989.

PROVENANCE:

Private collection, France.

21

C A M B O D I A

HEAD OF A CHILD OR YOUNG MONK

KHMER

PRE-ANGKOR PERIOD


H. 11.5 CMS, 4 ½ INS

A captivating greyish-buff sandstone head of a child or

young monk with a beautiful innocent expression, his eyes

wide open and mouth smiling gently, his head shaved, with

extensive brownish traces of what appears to be lacquer

on the reverse.

For an almost identical head see cat. no. 9 in Wolfgang Felten

and Martin Lerner, Thai and Cambodian Sculpture from the

6th to the 14th Centuries, London: Philip Wilson Publishers,

1989. The Felten-Lerner image was originally thought to have

been a late 12th century (Bayon-style) depiction of King

Jayavarman VII as a child but has since been redated to the

Pre-Angkor period.

PROVENANCE:


22

SANDSTONE TORSO OF ARDHANARISHVARA

KHMER

ANGKOR PERIOD

BAPHUON STYLE

11TH CENTURY

H. 44 CMS, 17 ½ INS

A rare brownish grey sandstone torso of the half female

form of Shiva (Ardhanarishvara), lithe and slender, wearing

a vertically striated sampot knotted below the stomach with

a curved pleat and a square knot, with a long central flap

terminating in a fishtail, the reverse wearing two different

robes to reveal the deity’s twin forms.

The androgynous form of the Hindu god - half Shiva, half

Parvati - represents his self-procreating form. This subject has

occurred in Indian art as far back as the Kushan period but is

rare in Khmer art.

According to Martin Lerner [M. Lerner, Ancient Khmer Sculpture,

Chinese Porcelain Company exhibition catalogue, New York,

1994, p. 38], Baphuon period images of male and female

deities: ‘are an obvious idealized abstraction of reality. Encased

in perfect skins, wide shouldered and narrow-waisted with

full hips tapering to well-modelled legs, the Baphuon gods

are portrayed in as sensuous a manner as the females….

the gentle, well-modelled volumes of the body flow

harmoniously, forming an uninterrupted organic unity.’

For a 10th century, Koh Ker example of Ardhanarishvara in

the Honolulu Museum of Art, see the following link:

http://tinyurl.com/cfdbq7h

For a somewhat later, Bayon style example of this subject see

cat. no. 105 in Emma Bunker and Douglas Latchford, Adoration

and Glory: The Golden Age of Khmer Art, Chicago: Art Media

Resources, 2004.

PROVENANCE:


23

BUDDHA MUCHALINDA

KHMER

ANGKOR PERIOD

ANGKOR WAT STYLE

FIRST HALF OF THE 12TH CENTURY.

H. 53 CMS, 21 INS

An outstanding polished dark brown sandstone Buddha

Muchalinda, meditative and serene, with a conical usnisha

and broad diadem, seated in dhyana (meditation)-mudra

on the coils of the naga Muchalinda and protected by its

seven-headed canopy, the reverse with finely detailed serpent

scales, a large central chakra and smaller chakras around the

periphery, and an upward-sweeping tail.

The naga (a snake deity or spirit) is a frequent subject of

Khmer mythology. The naga Muchalinda protected the

Buddha during a torrential rainstorm on the sixth day after

his enlightenment.

For two similar examples, one from the Phnom Penh Museum

and the other from the Musée Guimet, see cat. nos. 73 and 74

in Angkor et dix siècles d’art Khmer, Exhibition catalogue, Paris:

Reunion des Musées Nationaux, 1997.

PROVENANCE:


24

BRONZE VISHNU

ANGKOR PERIOD

ANGKOR WAT STYLE

FIRST HALF OF THE 12TH CENTURY.

H. 10 CMS, 4 INS

A beautifully modelled bronze figure of a four-armed Vishnu

standing on a square pedestal, holding his various attributes

(clockwise, from upper left), a disc (chakra), a conch, the

remains of his mace and a ball (representing the earth, or

mahi), wearing a short sampot with an elaborate central fold

and a broad flap on the reverse, extensively jewelled with a

conical tiered usnisha.





For a related, Angkor Wat style image, see cat. nos. 69 in

Angkor et dix siècles d’art Khmer, Exhibition catalogue, Paris:

Reunion des Musées Nationaux, 1997. See also, cat. no. 10 in

Khun Samen, The New Guide to the National Museum, Phnom

Penh, Cambodian Ministry of Culture, 2nd edition, 2006.

PROVENANCE:


25

BRONZE SEATED GANESHA

KHMER

ANGKOR PERIOD

BAYON STYLE

13TH CENTURY.

H. 8.5 CMS, 3 ¼ INS

A charming bronze figure of a two-armed seated Ganesha,

holding his broken tusk in his right hand and a bowl of

sweetmeats in his left, with a broad head and a conical usnisha,

his ample belly extending over a short sampot, extensively

jewelled with a thick upavita (sacred thread) extending

across his chest and back.

For an example of similar date and style in the Phnom Penh

Museum, see cat. no. 18 in Khun Samen, The New Guide to

the National Museum, Phnom Penh, Cambodian Ministry of

Culture, 2nd edition, 2006.

PROVENANCE:


26

STANDING AVALOKITESVARA

KHMER

ANGKOR PERIOD

BAYON STYLE


H. 86 CMS, 34 INS

A magnificent buff sandstone figure of a standing

two-armed Avalokitesvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion,

muscular and powerful, the face beatific beneath a raised

chignon bearing a seated figure of Amitabha Buddha,

wearing a short pleated sampot secured by a jewelled

belt with a broad fishtail at the front and rear.

27

During the reign of the great Khmer ruler Jayavarman VII

(r. 1181 - 1218?), Mahayana Buddhism became the state

religion, the Khmer empire reached its greatest extent -

as far as the Thai border areas, the Champa kingdom of

modern-day Vietnam and parts of Laos as well - and

many of its greatest monuments were erected. The

temples of Banteay Kdei, Ta Prohm, Preah Khan, Banteay

Chmar and the great enclosure of Angkor Thom were

all built during his reign.

There is a fine example of a four-armed Avalokitesvara

from Preah Khan (Angkor), of some 2.15 metres (7 feet)

in height in the National Museum, Phnom Penh - the

head is reproduced as fig. 526 in Girard-Geslan, M. et al,

Art of Southeast Asia, New York: Harry N. Abrams Inc, 1998.

The head and torso of a large example were offered at a

1994 exhibition in New York - see cat. nos. 19 and 20 in

M. Lerner, Ancient Khmer Sculpture, Chinese Porcelain

Company exhibition catalogue, New York, 1994.

PROVENANCE:


TORSO OF A RADIATING AVALOKITESVARA

KHMER

ANGKOR PERIOD

BAYON STYLE


H. 50 CMS, 19 ½ INS

An imposing buff sandstone torso of an eight-armed radiating

Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, muscular and powerful, the upper

torso, arms and back covered in minute representations of the

Buddha, with seated figures of Prajnaparamita (the Goddess

of Transcendent Wisdom) on the chest and stomach, wearing

a short pleated sampot with a jewelled belt and a broad

fishtail pleat at the front and back.

These images of Avalokitesvara, the Bodhisattva of

Compassion, are believed to represent the Khmer ruler

Jayavarman VII. According to an inscription found at Preah

Khan, Jayavarman VII sent twenty-three stone images of

this subject to different parts of the kingdom in 1191 in

memory of his father.

There are celebrated examples of the type in both the

Bangkok National Museum and the Musée Guimet – for

the latter, see cat. no. 98 in Angkor et dix siècles d’art Khmer,

Exhibition catalogue, Paris: Reunion des Musées Nationaux,

1997. For another example see cat. No. 96a in Emma Bunker

and Douglas Latchford, Adoration and Glory: The Golden Age

of Khmer Art, Chicago: Art Media Resources, 2004.

PROVENANCE:


28

BRONZE STANDING BUDDHA

THAI

MON-DVARAVATI PERIOD

CIRCA 8TH CENTURY

H. 28 CMS, 11 INS

A superb bronze figure of Buddha, his right hand in vitarka

(teaching) mudra and the left in varada (wish-granting) mudra,

the body in a slight tribhanga, wearing a close-fitting sanghati,

the ears with extended lobes and the face with a benevolent

expression, the chignon composed of snail shell curls and

surmounted by a small usnisha.

For a similar Buddha, see fig. 59 (cat. no. 9) in H.W. Woodward,

The Sacred Sculpture of Thailand: The Alexander B. Griswold

Collection, Baltimore: Walters Art Gallery, 1997. The finest

example of the type is the great, 110 cm standing Buddha

from Muang Fai, Buriram province in the National Museum,

Bangkok - see cat. no. 15 in Rita Ringis (ed.), Treasures from

the National Museum, Bangkok, Bangkok: National Museum

Volunteers Group, 1995.

PROVENANCE:


Reputedly acquired from Spink & Son Ltd, London

in the mid-1960s.

29

T H A I L A N D

STANDING BUDDHA IN ROYAL ATTIRE

THAILAND

LATE AYUTTHAYA PERIOD

17TH - 18TH CENTURY

H. 132 CMS, 52 INS

An intricately cast gilded bronze figure of Buddha in Royal

Attire, standing on a tiered pedestal with both hands raised

in abhayamudra (the gesture of ‘dispelling fear’), extensively

jewelled and decorated with glass and mirror inlay, the

earlobes long with lotus earrings and separate pendants hung

behind, the face meditative and serene beneath a detachable

tiered diadem terminating in a tapering finial, with gilding

and black lacquer throughout.

The kingdom of Ayutthaya, established by King U Thong in

1350 in the Chao Phraya River basin to the north of Bangkok

was, until the Burmese attacked and burned its capital in 1767,

one of the richest and most enduring kingdoms of Southeast

Asia, attracting innumerable merchants and other visitors, not

only from neighbouring Asian countries but also from

Europe as well.

This magnificent Buddha is typical of the ornate images made

during the latter part of the Ayutthaya period. They are finer,

more slender and more sophisticated than the more common

images of the 19th century, Bangkok (Ratanakosin) period.

For a standing example in the Bangkok National Museum,

see fig. 39 (cat. no. 63) in F. McGill et al, The Kingdom of Siam:

The Art of Central Thailand, San Francisco: Asian Art Museum,

2005. For a related, seated example in the Bangkok National

Museum see fig. 74 in Rita Ringis (ed.), Treasures from the

National Museum, Bangkok, Bangkok: National Museum

Volunteers Group, 1995.

See, also, no. 31 in this catalogue.

30

STANDING BUDDHA IN ROYAL ATTIRE

THAILAND

LATE AYUTTHAYA PERIOD

17TH - 18TH CENTURY

H. 113 CMS, 44 ½ INS

An intricately cast gilded bronze figure of Buddha in Royal

Attire, standing on a tiered pedestal with both hands raised

in abhayamudra (the gesture of ‘dispelling fear’), extensively

jewelled and decorated with glass and mirror inlay, the

earlobes long with lotus earrings, the face meditative

and serene beneath a tiered diadem terminating in a

tapering finial.

The kingdom of Ayutthaya, established by King U Thong in

1350 in the Chao Phraya River basin to the north of Bangkok

was, until the Burmese attacked and burned its capital in 1767,

one of the richest and most enduring kingdoms of Southeast

Asia, attracting innumerable merchants and other visitors,

not only from neighbouring Asian countries but also from

Europe as well.

As with catalogue no. 30 on the previous page, this

outstanding Buddha is typical of the ornate images made

during the latter part of the Ayutthaya period. They are finer,

more slender and more sophisticated than the more common

images of the 19th century, Bangkok (Ratanakosin) period.

For a standing example in the Bangkok National Museum, see

fig. 39 (cat. no. 63) in F. McGill et al, The Kingdom of Siam: The Art

of Central Thailand, San Francisco: Asian Art Museum, 2005. For

a related, seated example in the Bangkok National Museum

see fig. 74 in Rita Ringis (ed.), Treasures from the National

Museum, Bangkok, Bangkok: National Museum Volunteers

Group, 1995.

31

BRONZE DOVE STAFF OF OFFICE(WANGZHANG )

CHINA

HAN DYNASTY

206 BC – 220 AD

L. 17 CMS, 6 ¾ INS.

A remarkable bronze dove finial, with an attractive pale

greenish-brown patina, with finely detailed wing and tail

feathers and a dappled head, a closed beak and eyes wide

open and gazing intently, supported by a tube for the insertion

of a wooden staff embellished with triangular lotus petals.

During the Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD), men who attained

the age of 70 years were awarded a wangzhang, or ‘king’s

staff’, consisting of a wooden pole topped with a dove-shaped

finial. This reward entitled these esteemed elders to certain

advantages and to a greater respect amongst the community.

The Compton Verney Collection in the UK has a similar

dove-shaped finial - see cat. no. 5 in the Chinese Compton

Verney guidebook or visit the following link:

http://tinyurl.com/8gc3yys

PROVENANCE:


32

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