A HIGH CONTENT SILVER BRONZE FIGURE OF BUDDHA AKYAMUNI, standing in a slightly swaying pose on a separate moulded lotus-base, his right hand formerly in abhayamudra, his left holding hem of his dress, his well-modelled body covered by a diaphanous garment leaving his right shoulder bare, the face with downcast expression, broad nose, lips, elongated earlobes and a curled hairdress and usnisha, a cut at the back between the shoulders suggests that the image was originally provided with a slab, possibly Thai-Malay peninsula, 7th/8th Century

A Private European Collection of Indonesian and Southeast Asian Bronze and Stone Sculptures. Introduction Selective examples of bronze sculptures constitute the major items of this collection. Most of these are from Indonesia and from the other areas of maritime Southeast Asia such as peninsular Thailand and probably Malaysia. The balance objects are products of the Mainland, especially Cambodia, North and Central Thailand. Historical and Religious Background Practically all the sculptures are sacred images designed for worship and contemplation, to induce merit and to provide spiritual sustenance to all concerned. These represent either the tangible configurations of divinities who are believed to have powers over the destiny of man or are the expressions of the theories, charms and methods that would bring the worshipper into contact with power that pervades the universe. The religions that had inspired the creation of these images were those of Buddhism and Hinduism and were introduced from India into Southeast Asia. Gradually they mingled with the local cultures of the soil and eventually became part and parcel of the life of these communities. The rise of Islam caused disappearance of Buddhism and Hinduism from most parts of maritime Southeast Asia. In the Mainland, Hinduism lost its strength and hold by the thirteenth century, but Buddhism remained the predominant religion of this continent to the present day. The Buddhist and Hindu images of Indonesia and Southeast Asia were fundamentally based on the traditional Indian system of iconology and iconometry. Essential rules and regulations were to be observed to ensure the correct visualization of the divine forms and the efficacious powers of the configurations. Examples and models of sacred images and temples must have been brought from India to Southeast Asia by pilgrims and missionaries. To the latter, these were essential instruments to transfer religious messages and practices to the new countries. To the former, these were momentos of personal contact with the sacred sites and with the ritual worship to such images renowned for sanctity and spiritual power. Indian treatises on imagery and rituals, too, must have been brought by missionaries and pilgrims to serve as manuals for local craftsmen and priests. Although variant in time and provenance, waves and waves of religious and artistic traditions flowed from India into Southeast Asia throughout the many centuries of social and commercial contact. New aesthetic styles emerged in different parts of Southeast Asia where Buddhism and Hinduism had attained prominence, due to the admixture of various Indian art forms and indigenous cultural traditions. Reminiscences of Indian styles and expressions were strong in the early images made in Southeast Asia, but gradually the foreign traits diminished and the local elements asserted themselves prominently. Continued cultural relations with India and with the other Southeast Asian communities brought in new religious ideas as well as new artistic trends, that enriched and revitalized the evolving art styles. Maritime Southeast Asia The Thai-Malay peninsula and the Indonesian archipelago were linked together not only by their natural geographic proximity, but also by commercial, political and cultural relations during ancient times. South Thailand and the Malay peninsula once formed part of the mighty maritime empire of rivijaya. References to this empire appeared in epigraphical and literary records since the seventh century. At the height of its power the authority of rivijaya extended over the Thai-Malay peninsula, Sumatra, Central Java and probably over many other parts of the Indonesian archipelago. There exists a close stylistic relationship among the religious monuments and the cultural objects of these regions during ca. 8th-10th centuries. These are generally classified under the heading 'Central Javanese style' after the richest centre of such productions. After this period South Thailand came under strong political and cultural influence of the Mainland and accordingly evolved a new style. The rest of maritime Southeast Asia carried on in the earlier tradition. The most important centre of production had by then shifted to East Java. Evidently it exerted much political and artistic influence on the whole region during the 11th-15th centuries. The sacred images from maritime Southeast Asia present a rich iconographic variety. Buddhism of the Mahayana type prevailed in the entire region during the 8th-9th centuries and is renowned for its extensive pantheon of gods and goddesses. During this period many important monuments were erected in Central Java and in South Thailand. Influences of Buddhism in Java diminished after the 9th century, although it still had adherents on the island. During the 13th-14th centuries Buddhism regained again the special patronage of the royalties of Java and Sumatra. In the meantime South Thailand came under the influences of the Mainland and ri Lanka and resorted to the more conservative Theravada form of Buddhism (see also following section). Contemporaneously, Hinduism with its polytheistic practices and popular mythology co-existed with Buddhism in all parts of maritime Southeast Asia. In Java it lost its influence to Buddhism during the 8th-9th centuries and was temporarily forced to take refuge in the mountainous regions far from the urban centre. It once more asserted its importance during the tenth century and remained the most prominent religion of the island until the rise of Islam in the sixteenth century. Icons in stone, bronze and other materials were made in great number for shrines and domestic altars. They represented the spiritual and divine beings who could have been worshipped either independently or as part of the hierarchical assembly of deities that presided over the entire World Order. Many Buddha images in traditional poses form part of this collection (lots 1-19). They portray the Buddha akyamuni and his celestial counterparts, the Dhyani Buddhas or Jinas, who ruled the world and each individual in it. Other interesting objects represent the configurations of the Bodhisattvas (lots 21-31), the Buddhist saviours, perfect in wisdom and foremost in selfless actions. Some are gentle and magnanimous in appearance (lots 21-28 and 31), while others look energetic and powerful (lot 29 and 30). Next to them in importance are the Taras (lot 32 and 33), their feminine counterparts, who often received independent worship or even had a special shrine of their own. The Mahayana Buddhist pantheon consists of an uncountable number of gods and goddesses of different ranks and functions. An image in this collection portrays an attendant goddess of inferior rank (lot 34), whose duty it is to present a ritual requisite to the exalted divine assembly that maintains the World Order. Mystic tendencies, prevalent in the late phase of Mahayana Buddhism, find expressions in the visualization of the Origins of Life and Salvation in the form of divinities possessing the two-fold natures constituted of the Opposites (lot 20). Hindu images are no less abundant nor less variant in themes. Representations of the Triad being iva, Vishnu and Brahma make up a high percentage of the Hindu finds and range among the most important items in this collection (lots 35-41). In maritime Southeast Asia, iva appears to have been the most eminent of the three. He plays the role of the Destroyer, as well as the Creator and is endowed with boundless creative powers along with wisdom and priestly excellence (lots 38-40). Vishnu, the mighty Preserver of the World Order, is represented in lot 35 and 36, holding his deadly weapons and carrying the World in his hand. Lot 37 appears to reflect a local conceptualization of the god as was once known in maritime Southeast Asia. Brahma, the Foremost of the ascetics and the Progenitor of all that lives is often seen in a meditative pose (lot 41), suggestive of his transcendental wisdom and severe asceticism. The goddess Parvati, iva's consort and the Mother of the World, was often conceived of as being benign and loving, but occasionally depicted in ferocious forms. A fine silver image in this collection (lot 46) shows her in a serene, ascetic-like appearance. iva's two sons, Karttikeya the God of War and Ganea the Lord of Obstacles and Success, evidently acquired different degrees of popularity. Images of the former are rarely encountered and lot 42 in this collection could represent one of the very few bronze depictions of Karttikeya known in the art of Southeast Asia. Ganea, on the other hand, enjoyed an immensely wide range of popularity, as is indicated by the great number of his images made for worship in maritime Southeast Asia. Three of these have found their way into this collection (lots 43-45). As the God of Success and Remover of Obstacles, Ganea was apparently evoked by the Hindus and Buddhists alike at the commencement of every important enterprise. Many images of the God have been found installed at dangerous crossings on the roads and waterways, obviously to ensure the safe passage for travellers and pilgrims. Kubera, the God of Wealth (lot 47) and the Earth Goddess (lot 49) are known to the Hindus as the Consort of Vishnu and the Bestower of Good Fortune, both enjoying non-sectarian worship. Based on standard Indian styles and iconic formulae, the sacred images of maritime Southeast Asia also display their own regional traits and local versions concerning the manifested forms and functions of these divinities. Mainland Southeast Asia The continental region of Southeast Asia had been a meeting place for many races and cultures from the very beginnings of time. Urban settlements, ruled by kings who practised Indian religions and profitted from Indian system of state organizations, grew up in many areas since the 2nd or 3rd century A.D. The most powerful among these states and kingdoms was Funan in the lower basin of the Mekong river. Its political authority extended into East and Central Thailand. With the disintegration of Funan, the Chenla kingdom of the Khmers inherited the ancient Funan territory in Cambodia and in East Thailand. In Central Thailand the Mon folk established a new centre of political power known as Dvaravati. Hinduism and Buddhism prospered side by side in many parts of the mainland of Southeast Asia. The art of Funan and that of Chenla were primarily inspired by Hinduism which was the chosen religion of the kings. Their sculptural products consisted almost exclusively of images and symbols of Hindu divinities, especially those of iva, Vishnu and their respective counterparts. Buddhism prevailed to a certain extent in the same period, as is evident from the inscriptions and the archaeological remains. Two stone sculptures in this collection, depicting the heads of Buddha (lot 85) and Vishnu (lot 86), are representative of the art styles of the Funan and the Chenla phases which constitute the 'Pre-Angkor period' of Cambodia. Similar products are known from East, Central and peninsular Thailand, thus testifying to the cultural relations that existed between these regions and the Pre-Angkor kingdoms of Cambodia. Two fine items in the collection (lots 75 and 87) are revealing many characteristic features of the Pre-Angkor tradition of Cambodia. They were probably made in East or Central Thailand, where similar styles of art occured during the 6th-8th centuries. Side by side with these Pre-Angkor style products, Central Thailand also produced a large number of Buddhist sculptures. They show a homogenous style and a strong ethnic unity that can be attributed to the Mon kingdom of Dvaravati and its associated principalities. The type of Buddhism practised by the Mons was of the conservative Theravada type, which is centred around the veneration of the historical Buddha. The period of the 9th-12th centuries witnessed the rise to power and the subsequent expansion of the great Angkor kingdom of Cambodia. A large part of the present day Thailand came under the political power of Angkor during the 11th-13th centuries. This resulted in much building activities and in the modelling of religious sculptures in the tradition of Angkor. Several bronzes in this collection were either produced in Cambodia proper or in the Khmer-ruled regions of Thailand. They consist of Hindu images (lots 77-79), which are tokens of the predominance of Hinduism in the Khmer culture. Also representations of the Buddha (lots 69-71), Bodhisattvas (lot 74 and 76) and other Buddhist divinities are included and which together assert the importance of Buddhism as a religion of state during the last phase of the Angkor period. Among the Buddhists was a strong urge to represent the Buddha in royal attire (lot 71 and 71), reflecting the worshipper's belief in the divine and supramundane nature of the Teacher of the Doctrine. Coalition of religious elements appears to have been a common feature of the time and certain divinities were evidently venerated by both Hindus and Buddhists alike. The 13th century marked the decline of the power of Angkor and that of the Khmer people. The Thais, a new social group, rose to political prominence in those regions formerly occupied by the Mons and the Khmers. They inherited Buddhism along with certain features of its ritual, art and conventions from the earlier inhabitants of the country. They also received new inspirations from important centres of Theravada learning in the Indian sub-continent and in Burma. Theravada Buddhism became the chosen religion of the Thais and Buddha images represent their main objects of worship. The practice of making replicas of imported models remained detectable in certain schools of Thai art. Especially this was common in the Lanna school in North Thailand till the 16th century (lot 64) and even later. Nevertheless, by the 14th century, the Thais had succeeded in formulating their own style and establishing their own aesthetic norms. These were based on the quality of elegance and grace, seen in contrast to the calmness and simplicity of the Mon-style images (lots 55-61) and the severity and geometrical symmetry of the Khmer conventions (lots 69-83). A good example of the Thai style is represented by lot 63 of this collection. The tradition of reproducing and imitating ancient models continues to exist to the present day. Lot 65, a 16th-18th century configuration of the Buddha, records a mixture of stylistic elements belonging to the earlier periods. The coalition of religious elements, such as has been existing throughout the Buddhist/Hindu period of Southeast Asia, still prevails to modern times. The composition seen in lot 66 of this collection was based on two popular themes, one Buddhist and the other Hindu. The period of supremacy of Hinduism in Southeast Asia has long ended and Buddhism now triumphs over, as the main religion of the peoples. But Hindu divinities and many Hindu practices have found their asylum within the fold of Buddhism. Tales and mythologies relating the heroic and miraculous exploits of Hindu gods also retain great popularity among the Buddhist and even among the Muslims of present day Southeast Asia. Nandana Chutiwongs CATALOGUE TUESDAY, 28 MAY 1991 CODE 'ISTADEVATA' AFTERNOON SESSION AT 2.00 P.M. PRECISELY (Lots 1 - 89) Maritime Southeast Asia (Lots 1 - 54)

Details

A HIGH CONTENT SILVER BRONZE FIGURE OF BUDDHA AKYAMUNI, standing in a slightly swaying pose on a separate moulded lotus-base, his right hand formerly in abhayamudra, his left holding hem of his dress, his well-modelled body covered by a diaphanous garment leaving his right shoulder bare, the face with downcast expression, broad nose, lips, elongated earlobes and a curled hairdress and usnisha, a cut at the back between the shoulders suggests that the image was originally provided with a slab, possibly Thai-Malay peninsula, 7th/8th Century
10 cm high (slight damages to extremities), mounted

Provenance

Prof. Samuel Eilenberg

Lot Essay

The gentle and non-violent spirit of Buddhism is well reflected in this fine representation of the Teacher of the Doctrine. Reminiscences of the idealized formula of the classical Gupta age of North India remain preserved in the physiognomy, the slender body and the swaying stance of the figure. Yet, the form of the robe indicates another wave of stylistic influences from the Deccan and the presence of the lotus pedestal suggests a still later mode from North India. This Buddha image however, is remarkable for its close stylistic association with the classical Indian formula. This feature has been especially noticed in many early Buddhist sculptures from peninsular Thailand (see Griswold 1960: cat. 33; Krairiksh 1980: pls. 4 and 5) and from Malaysia (see Griswold 1966: fig. 21).

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