Page 31 - Bonhams Asian Art Sydney November 4, 2020

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A GREY SANDSTONE TORSO OF A DEITY Published:
Khmer, Angkor Period, 12th/ 13th century David Jones' Art Gallery, Indian, Thai, and Khmer Sculpture, Sydney, 4
together with two installation shots by Max Dupain for the exhibition to 23 November, 1968, No. 49 (illustrated)
at the David Jones' Art Gallery,
57.5cm high In the original catalogue as well as the Max Dupain's installation shots,
the deity has a head. However it is clear from one of Dupain's shots,
$20,000 - 50,000 the back, that the head had already been detached. In the subsequent
Provenance: sale at Sotheby's, the torso was offered without the head.
(of the Torso)
David Jones' Art Gallery, Indian, Thai, and Khmer Sculpture, Sydney, Many four-armed male figures from the Angkor Wat period depict the
4 to 23 November, 1968, No. 49 (illustrated) Hindu god Vishnu. Towards the end of the twelfth century, however,
Sotheby's, The Connoisseur's Autumn Collection, Melbourne, images of Lokeshvara and other Buddhist deities began to proliferate
27 May 2008, Lot 28 in almost stylistically indistinguishable fashion, as King Jayavarman
R&V Tregaskis Oriental Art, Sydney VII (r. 1181-1218) adopted Mahayana Buddhism as the official state
religion, replacing the cult of Vishnu which had predominated the
(of the installation shots) Khmer empire for previous centuries.
David Jones' Art Gallery, Indian, Thai, and Khmer Sculpture, Sydney,
4 to 23 November, 1968 The identity of this deity hence is almost impossible to discern without
Mossgreen, Max Dupain (1911-1992) - Part II: the Final Estate its iconographic features which would normally appear on the chignon,
Photographs, Sydney, 19 June 2017, Lot 426 and 427 or as objects held by one of the missing hands.
R&V Tregaskis Oriental Art, Sydney

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