Page 118 - September 20th 2021, Indian and Himalayan Art Christie's NYC

Property Of The Virginia Museum Of Fine Arts
Sold To Benefit Future Acquisitions

PROPERTY OF THE VIRGINIA MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, SOLD TO BENEFIT
FUTURE ACQUISITIONS
452
A SANDSTONE HEAD OF AN ASCETIC FORM OF SHIVA 高棉帝國 巴戎寺風格 十三世紀 砂岩雕濕婆首
KHMER, BAYON PERIOD, 13TH CENTURY
13æ in. (34.9 cm.) high 來源:
盧芹齋，紐約，不晚於1942年。
$12,000-18,000 維吉尼亞州藝術博物館，入藏於1953年 (館藏編號53.21.2)。
PROVENANCE: 展覽:
With C.T. Loo, New York, by 1942. 盧芹齋，Exhibition of the Sculpture of Greater India，紐約，1942年，
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, accessioned in 1953 (acc. no. 53.21.2). 編號61。
出版:
EXHIBITED:
C.T. Loo & Co., "Exhibition of the Sculpture of Greater India," New York, 盧芹齋，《Exhibition of the Sculpture of Greater India》，紐約，1942年，
1942, no. 61. 編號61。
LITERATURE:
C.T. Loo & Co., Exhibition of the Sculpture of Greater India, New York,
1942, no. 61.

The present work, with exceptional early provenance, represents Shiva
as an ascetic. As told in the narrative of the Kumārasambhava, or “Birth
of Kumara,” Shiva disguised himself as a Brahmin ascetic meditating in
the mountains to court his future wife Parvati, the daughter of Himalaya.
When Shiva reveals himself, he retains the pointed beard depicted in this
sculpture. Compare the work to a Bayon-style relief at Musée Guimet
which depicts the bearded ascetic Shiva, staff in hand, approaching
Parvati as she performs penance, illustrated by H. Jessup and T. Zéphir
in Sculpture of Angkor and Ancient Cambodia: Millennium of Glory, 1997,
pp.330-331, cat.no.112.
Bayon sculpture is characterized by a more earthly and human aesthetic
of beauty that favored idealized portraits. Here, the sculptor has ably
rendered the subtle modeling of the face, including the tear-shaped urna
between sensitively accentuated brows sheltering Shiva’s defined eyes
and a broad mouth with rimmed lips carved into a curled smile. Shiva’s
tightly wound braids are tied into an elaborate chignon behind a foliate
tiara, ornamented to great detail.

C.T. Loo & Co., Exhibition of the Sculpture of Greater India, New York, 1942, no. 61 and cover.