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Lot Essay
This exquisite lion figure once graced a temple compound. The lion was not indigenous to Cambodia and the artist had to base
his designs on drawings, smaller sculpted examples or just his imagination. The lion was considered an emblem of royalty. The concept came from ancient India where pillars supported by seated lions already existed before the Christian era. Stone lions in Khmer art can be encountered in various poses, seated, standing, walking and even rearing up. This strong example, with its long tightly-curled mane, can be dated to the Koh Ker period, rather than the more fowing manes of successive centuries. A later and larger example is illustrated in P. Pal Art from Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia: Asian Art at the Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, 2003, vol. 3, pl. 170.
his designs on drawings, smaller sculpted examples or just his imagination. The lion was considered an emblem of royalty. The concept came from ancient India where pillars supported by seated lions already existed before the Christian era. Stone lions in Khmer art can be encountered in various poses, seated, standing, walking and even rearing up. This strong example, with its long tightly-curled mane, can be dated to the Koh Ker period, rather than the more fowing manes of successive centuries. A later and larger example is illustrated in P. Pal Art from Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia: Asian Art at the Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, 2003, vol. 3, pl. 170.