Page 38 - Bonhams, Indian and Himalayan Art New York July 23, 2020

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838 839 W
AN ANDESITE FIGURE OF KUBERA A COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF BUDDHA
INDONESIA, CENTRAL JAVA, 10TH CENTURY NORTHERN THAILAND, AYUTTHAYA PERIOD, 16TH CENTURY
18 1/2 in. (47 cm) high 31 5/8 in. (80.4 cm) high
$15,000 - 20,000 $20,000 - 30,000
印度尼西亞 爪哇中部 十世紀 安山岩俱毘羅像 泰國北部 大城時期 十六世紀 佛陀銅像

Kubera, god of wealth, is seated on a lotus base in a position of royal Blissful and still, this standing Buddha has his right hand raised in
ease, his plump corpulent body carved out of Indonesia’s volcanic the gesture of reassuring his followers. Pointing skyward, his elegant
stone. His full, rounded face glows with a joyful expression, as a gentle fingers characterize the graceful simplicity of his form. While this
smile curls his wide lips. Above, he is adorned with a floral diadem. bronze exhibits typical iconographic and stylistic features of sculpture
produced under the Ayutthaya period, its distinctive facial features—
Compare the present sculpture to a figure of Kumara, formerly in the comprised of a pointed jaw, wide lips, upswept eyes, high-arched
Alsdorf Collection (Pal, Collecting Odyssey, Chicago, 1997, p.67, cat. brows, and broad forehead—are qualities which are diagnostic of
no.79). Also compare the treatment of the crown and jewels on a figure the artistic traditions of Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, and regions near the
of Nandisvara in Fontein, The Sculpture of Indonesia, Washington Thai-Lao border. A good stylistic comparison for dating this bronze is a
D.C., 1990, p.127, cat. no.8. seated Buddha from Northern Thailand with comparable facial features
kept in the British Museum and dated by inscription to 1540/1 (Zwalf
Provenance (ed.), Buddhism: Art and Faith, New York, 1985, p.181, no.253).
Estate of Carolyn Oei (1916), Germany, by late 1960s
Nagel Auction, Salzburg, 6 December 2018, lot 698 Provenance
Art Passages, San Francisco, 3 February 2008
Private West Coast Collection

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