Page 188 - Bonhams Cornette Saint Cyr, Property from the estate of Jean-Pierre Rousset (1936-2021)

77
STATUE DE DIVINITÉ FÉMININE EN GRÈS
Cambodge, style du Baphuon, XIe siècle
A SANDSTONE FIGURE OF A FEMALE DEITY
Cambodia, Baphuon style, 11th century
She stands in samabhanga wearing striated
sampot secured by a pattered belt knotted
at the front while a fish-tail section falls
downwards, naked upper body with well-
defined breasts and incised bellybutton,
stand.
90cm (35 1/2in) high. (2).

€20,000 - 30,000

Provenance:
Robert Rousset, Paris (1901-1981), acquired
from Capital Antique, Bangkok, 7 July 1966
Jean-Pierre Rousset, Paris (1936-2021)
The designation of the female figure could be
a representation of Prajnâpâramitâ embodying
perfection of wisdom, mother of all Buddhas,
entity of very high rank in the pantheon of the
Mahayana Buddhism; or that of an attendant
of the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara. The effaced
section at the front of her hair bun suggests
the presence of a small deity representing
Amitabha is now missing, would suggest a
designation of Prajnaparamita and repurposed
to a Hindu deity.

Compare two related stone figures of a female
deity, one in the National Museum, Phnom
Penh, illustrated by N.Dalsheimer, L’art du
Cambodge ancien, 2001, p.132, no.56 and
the other in the collection of the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, see M.Lerner and S.Kossak,
‘The Arts of South and Southeast Asia’, The
Metropolitan of Art Bulletin, vol.LI, no.4, 1994,
fig.88, p.83.

186 | BONHAMS