
Jing Wen
Cataloguer
Sold for €24,225 inc. premium
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Global Head of Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art
Senior Specialist
Provenance:
Swiss private collection, circa 1925 (by repute)
French private collection
Loudmer auction, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 18 December 1996, lot 277
Jean-Pierre Rousset, Paris (1936-2021), acquired at the above sale
Dikpalaka, are also known as Lokpala (the worldly guardians). In Southeast Asia, the depiction of Dikpalaka and Navagriha in Khmer art was usually presented in the form of nine-deity panels. These included four deities associated with planets: Surya, Chandra, Rahu and Ketu, and then the five Dikpala: Indra, Kubera, Yama, Varuna and Agni.
It is likely that this Dikpalaka was from a sculptural mandala, the circular arrangement of Hindu sacred objects, with a principal god at the centre. The well-defined vertical third-eye would indicate affiliation with Shiva, but in the absence of a defined attribute in his remaining hand or the vehicle that would been place below, the designation is not clear. A closely related figure in the National Museum Phnom Phen (N.Dalsheimer, L'art du Cambodge ancien, Paris 2001, p.136, no.58) in the same posture and sampot style is described as Shiva. Also, compare the facial type with an example in the Musee Guimet, Paris (MG 18949).
A unique feature of this figure is the presence of a skeletal defect on his back to create the impression of a 'hunchback'. This is a very rare representation of this human defect that is shared with a small number of examples. For a full discussion and examples from Ankor area, see L.Malleret, "Bossus et Nains dans la sculpture en Extrême-Orient," in Arts asiatiques, vol.20, 1969, pp.121-133, pls.III-IV.
柬埔寨 巴方風格 十一世紀 砂岩方位護法像
來源:
瑞士私人收藏,約1925年(傳)
法國私人收藏
Loudmer拍賣行,Hotêl Drouot,巴黎,1996年12月18日,編號277
巴黎Jean-Pierre Rousset(1936-2021)舊藏,得自上述拍賣