Page 60 - Indian and Himilayan Art

PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT EUROPEAN COLLECTION

249
A GRAY SANDSTONE FIGURE OF
DURGA MAHISHASURAMARDINI
KHMER, PRE-ANGKOR PERIOD, PHNOM DA
STYLE, 6TH CENTURY
20º in. (51.5 cm.) high
$20,000-30,000

PROVENANCE:

with Beurdeley & Cie, Paris.
Acquired by the family of the current owner from
the above on 7 March 1985: thence by descent.
It is rare to fnd a sculpture of the demon-slaying
goddess from the pre-Angkor period, especially
in such a collectible size. Compare with a slightly
smaller fgure from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs.
John D. Rockefeller 3rd, dated a century later,
and now at Asia Society, New York (illustrated
below). The Rockefeller fgure has a striated
dhoti, while the present example has a smooth
garment, focusing the attention on the body, and
emphasizing the gently rounded breasts and
supply belly. See lot 246 for another example, in
black stone.

A gray sandstone fgure of Durga, pre-Angkor period,
late 7th century, Khmer, 16Ω in. (43 cm.) high
Collection of Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd
Published in Sherman E. Lee, Asian Art: Selections
from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller
3rd, Part II, New York, 1975, p.27, cat.no.16