RARE ET IMPORTANTE STATUE DE VISHNU EN GRES

CAMBODGE, KHMER, STYLE DE PRE-RUP, MILIEU DU XEME SIECLE

Details

RARE ET IMPORTANTE STATUE DE VISHNU EN GRES
CAMBODGE, KHMER, STYLE DE PRE-RUP, MILIEU DU XEME SIECLE
Il est représenté debout en samabhanga. Il est vêtu d'un sampot plissé maintenu à la taille par une ceinture dont un pan retombe en élégants plis sur sa cuisse gauche, un double pan tombant sur le devant. Son torse est nu, son nombril incisé. Son visage est serein, ses yeux en amande sont surmontés de sourcils droits. Sa bouche charnue est rehaussée d'une fine moustache et d'une barbe. Ses cheveux sont coiffés en chignon rehaussé d'un kiritamakuta. Son front est ceint d'une tiare ouvragée.
Hauteur: 121 cm. (47 5/8 in.), socle

Provenance

Private collection, England, acquired in Asia, 16 February 1988

Further details

A RARE AND IMPORTANT SANDSTONE FIGURE OF VISHNU
CAMBODIA, KHMER, PRE-RUP STYLE, MID-10TH CENTURY

Lot Essay

This fine sacred image representing the four-armed Vishnu most likely dates from the Pre-Rup period (944-968). Its style borrows from earlier Bakheng (889-928) and Koh Ker (928-944) stone examples. The result is a technical superb sculpture being less hieratic than examples from these earlier periods. The body appears to be more elegant and less sturdy and powerful than examples from these mentioned styles. The continuing eyebrows above the almond-shaped eyes seem to be less ridged than comparable examples from the Koh Ker period. The rather simple knot to which the tiara is tied at the back suggests as well a slightly later development. All these elements together suggest that this great sculpture can be stylistically placed around the mid-tenth century.

More from Art D'Asie

View All