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Lot Essay
In India Shiva is best known as a dynamic yogi who dances in cremation grounds, whereas in Southeast Asia it was his quiet asceticism that most highly appealed to the local aesthetic. Favoring austere, minimalist forms that exhibit a deep sense of serenity and restraint, Khmer sculpture is imbued with gravitas. The art of the Baphuon period is the most fully realized expression of this particular aesthetic of asceticism. The style is characterized by the arrangement of the sampot, which is pulled up at the waistline to run flush along the slope of the hips, such that the full contour of the body creates a smooth curve.
The present figure is sensitively carved in the round standing with his right leg slightly advanced, his face with a serene expression, full lips under a suggested moustache, and downcast eyes, the finely braided hair gathered in a domed topknot, wearing a short sampot with an overlapping stylized pocketfold and a jeweled collar spanning across his shoulder, suspending long triangular pendants on his back.
For a very closely related example, formerly in the Pan-Asian Collection, see Sotheby's New York, 5 October 1990, lot 126.
The present figure is sensitively carved in the round standing with his right leg slightly advanced, his face with a serene expression, full lips under a suggested moustache, and downcast eyes, the finely braided hair gathered in a domed topknot, wearing a short sampot with an overlapping stylized pocketfold and a jeweled collar spanning across his shoulder, suspending long triangular pendants on his back.
For a very closely related example, formerly in the Pan-Asian Collection, see Sotheby's New York, 5 October 1990, lot 126.