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Sacred Art of Asia > Sculpture (20)

  • <p><strong>KHMER LINGAM </strong></p><p>GRAY SANDSTONE </p><p>BAYON STYLE </p><p>CIRCA 12<sup>th</sup> 13<sup>TH</sup> CENTURY </p><p>66 cm / 26” high </p><p><strong>DESCRIPTION: </strong>The lingam, a stylized phallic symbol of the cosmic masculine principal and of the Hindu god Shiva. Shiva, the god of destruction is also allied to his role in creation. The lingam is the symbol of fertility and in Bayon School is depicted with a rectangular base, faceted octagonal body and cylindrical upper section with domed top. </p><p>The cubic base represents Brahma, the octagonal prism represents. Vishnu, and a cylindrical section with a rounded top represents Shiva. </p>
  • <p><strong>MAHAKALA </strong></p><br/><p>COPPER WITH PAINTED DETAIL</p><br/><p>TIBETO-CHINESE STYLE</p><br/><p>CIRCA 18<sup>th</sup> CENTURY (SOTHEBY’S)</p><br/><p>50.2 cm / 19,75” height <br /><br /></p><br/><p><strong>EXHIBITED: </strong><em>Tantra, </em>Haywood Gallery, Arts Council of Great Britain, September 30 – November 14, 1971</p><br/><p><strong>DESCRIPTION: </strong>“The fierce six-armed deity stepping to the right in <em>pratyalidhasana ,</em>richly bejeweled, wearing a tiger skin loin cloth wrapped around his waist, his face with wide bulging eyes below fiery eyebrows, his mouth open in a grimace with fangs and curling tongue highlighted with pigment, a vajra finial in his flaming hair.” Sotheby’s Catalog “His myth is that he was once a powerful demon who conquered even the most powerful gods, due to his possession of a special boon from the supreme god Brahma. He was then subdued by the bodhisattvas Manjushri and Avalokiteshvara working in concert, and subsequently put his powers into the service of the Dharma. He is a popular protector among all Tibetans. He has many forms…”</p><br/><p>Placed in a private collection</p>
  • <p><strong>THAI SEATED BUDDHA </strong></p><p>BRONZE, COVERED WITH GILT AND LACQUER </p><p>RATTANKOSIN STYLE </p><p>CIRCA EARLY 19<sup>TH</sup> CENTURY </p><p>45 cm / 18” high w/base </p><p><strong>EXHIBITED: </strong>Ithaca College Museum of Art, Ithaca, New York ,spring 1971 </p><p>Catalog exhibition entitled<strong> ‘</strong><em>Art of Thailand</em>.’ Item 49 : Loan number 403.70L </p><p><strong>DESCRIPTION: </strong>An adorn Buddha seated in bhumisparsha-mudra* pose on a stylized stepped lotus seat supported by a low table wearing a sanghati leaving his right shoulder bear; his hair and usnia arranged in rows of small round curls. Attachment loops for a separately cast nine tiered royal umbrella fastened to the base behind. An iconographical detail is that all the fingers and toes are of the same size. This apparent anomaly is in conformity with the Digha Nikaya; a Pali text known as ‘<em>The Dialogues of Buddha’</em>. The Pali commentary specifies that among the 32 iconographic items mentioned are: that the four fingers of both hands and the five toes of each foot be the same length. </p><p>*It is thought that on the eve of his Enlightenment the Buddha was tempted by Mara. To dispense the distracting vision, the Buddha moved his right hand from the meditative position to his knee, pointing downward to “call the Earth to witness” and testify his worthiness to triumph over evil. This gesture represents enlightenment. </p>
  • <p><strong>BALINESE HARDWOOD DOOR  </strong></p><p>HARDWOODS, GILT AND PAINT </p><p>EARLY 20<sup>th</sup> CENTURY </p><p>47” WIDE x 102” HIGH </p>
     
  • <p><strong>BURMESE BELL AND HANGER </strong></p><p>BRONZE BELL METAL, CAST IRON HANGER <br />MANDALAY STYLE (KONBSUNG DYNASTY) </p><p>MID 19<sup>TH</sup> CENTURY <br /><br /></p><p><strong>DESCRIPTION: </strong>A bronze, inscribed temple bell, of domed form with raised bands around the sides, the shoulder with a double lotus border. The suspension loop in the form of two crouching lions, each with ferocious expression, with a bud final. The bracket of cast iron depicts various royal personages and attending servants. <br /><br />Placed in Private Collection</p>
  • <p><strong>JAPANESE TANSU </strong></p><p>PINE WOOD WITH IRON HARDWARE </p><p>CIRCA 1920 </p><p>68.5 cm h x 41 cm d x 114.5 cm w / 27” h x 16’d x 45” w </p><p>Placed in private collection</p>
  • <p><strong>BUDDHA ON MUCHALINDA </strong></p><p>GRAY SANDSTONE </p><p>BAYON; ANCHOR WAT STYLE </p><p>11<sup>TH</sup> /12<sup>TH</sup> CENTURY (SOTHEBY’S ATRIBUTION) </p><p>91.4 cm/ 26” h. </p><p><strong>DESCRIPTION: A Khmer stone figure of Buddha on Muchalinda: </strong>The Lord Buddha is seated in <em>dhyana mudra </em>on the three coiled body of the <em>naga,</em> its fragmentary seven heads rising up behind the Lord Buddha’s head forming a nimbus. The simplicity of the body is sharply contrasted with hood which is delicately inscribed with scales and stylized cakras. Buddha’s hands resting in his lap in <em>dhyana mudra</em>, his smooth undecorated hair surmounted by a conical usnisa. An example of the Khmer smile which characterizes much of Khmer art may be seen in the face. “The iconography of the Buddha sheltered by the <em>naga</em> hood alludes to the episode in the life of the Buddha 42 days after the attainment of Enlightenment, when the <em>naga </em>king Muchalinda protected him from a rainstorm with its hood.”* </p>
  • <p><strong>SITTING BURMESE BUDDHA </strong></p><p>GILT<strong>;</strong>.DRY LACQUER </p><p>MANDALAY STYLE (KONBAUNG DYNASTY) </p><p>MID TO LATE 19<sup>TH</sup> CENTURY </p><p>69.8 cm./27.5” high </p><p><strong>DESCRIPTION: </strong>A Burmese Figure of Buddha Shakyamuni:A large figure of Buddha, seated in dhyanasana on a molded red and black high, waisted throne, his hands in bhumisarsa and dhyana mudra, and wearing royal robes and a crown. </p><p>This figure in this illustration represents what is possibly, the most characteristic form of Burmese Religious sculpture. The posture in which Buddha is seated is usually known as the 'earth witness' attitude. This represents the moment when Buddha was seated in meditation under the Bodhi tree during the night before he achieved enlightenment. When he was asked by Mara to name anyone who would give evidence that he had given alms, the Buddha moved his right hand and touched the earth and said that the earth would bear witness that in a previous existence in the form of Vessantara , he had given alms to such an extent as to cause the earth to quake. Immediately before this incident his right hand was folded in his lap in precisely the same way as his left; here he has moved it to touch the earth in front of him in the gesture of calling the earth to witness (bhumisarsa mudra) </p><p>Dry lacquer is a technique which was probably imported from China; dry lacquer figures are usually hollow; they are built up with cloth soaked in lacquer on a wooden frame work, or clay core, which is subsequently removed. Alternatively, the cloth is pressed into a lacquer mould which has been made of a figure carved out of wood. In both cases the details are added after the main form has been made, and the surface polished and gilded </p>
     
  • <p><strong>BURMESE SEATED BUDDHA </strong></p><p>BRONZE </p><p>MANDALAY STYLE </p><p>19th CENTURY (Circa1890) </p><p>68.5 cm h / 27” h</p><p><strong>DESCRIPTION: </strong><strong>A Burmese Bronze Figure of Buddha Shakyamuni: </strong>A large bronze figure of Buddha seated in dhyanasana on a molded throne, his hands in bhumisarsa and dhyana mudra, and wearing a monastic robe falling from the left shoulder across his body, his face with benevolent expression, bow-shaped mouth, inset eyes and finely arched eyebrows in relief, his hair, tiny curls surmounted by a domed usnisa contained by a broad band corresponding to the fillet. Mandalay style ** </p>
  • <p><strong>THAI STANDING BUDDHA </strong></p><p>BRONZE, COVERED WITH GILT AND LACQUER </p><p>LATE AYUTTAHAYA /EARLY RATANKOSIN </p><p>CIRCA 18<sup>th</sup> CENTURY </p><p>78.7 cm / 31” high w/base ( 94 cm / 37 ‘ w/ base <br /><br /></p><p><strong>EXHIBITED: </strong>Ithaca College Museum of Art, Ithaca, New York spring 1971 Catalog exhibition entitled<strong> ‘</strong><em>Art of Thailand</em>.’ Item 14 ; Loan Number 398.70L </p><p><strong>DESCRIPTION: </strong>Buddha is shown in a royal sanghati in a gesture of abbaya-mudra affording protection (or in Thailand, restraining Kinsmen) leaving his right shoulder bear; his hair and usnia arranged in rows of small round curls. An iconographical detail is that all the fingers and toes are of the same size. This apparent anomaly is in conformity with the Digha Nikaya, a Pali text known as ‘<em>The Dialogues of Buddha’</em> .The Pali commentary specifies that among the 32 iconographic items mentioned are that the four fingers of both hands and the five toes of each foot be the same length. <br /><br />Placed in Private Collection</p>
  • <p><strong>THAI STANDING BUDDHA </strong></p><p>BRONZE, COVERED WITH GILT AND LACQUER </p><p>AYUTTHAYA STYLE </p><p>CIRCA 14<sup>TH TO</sup> 17<sup>TH</sup> CENTURY </p><p>145 cm / 57” high w/base </p><p><strong>EXHIBITED: </strong>Ithaca College Museum of Art, Ithaca, New York ,Spring 1971 </p><p>Catalog exhibition entitled<strong> ‘</strong><em>Art of Thailand</em>.’ Item 10: Loan number 397.70L </p><p><strong>DESCRIPTION: </strong>The figure stands on a four tiered base with his right hand raised in abhaya-mudra*, the left arm pendent at his side wearing a simplified monk’s robe. The robe covers both shoulders and is marked by a fold at the abdomen and by a median pleat. </p><p>The head is conceived abstractly, compositions of linear and geometrical forms arranged on an ovoid surface. And “the pervasive linear element constant in Thai sculpture has finally subjugated what little had remained of sculptural quality per se.” The perfect, if mechanical workmanship, combining conventionalized features, gives this image a cold and remote aspect. Such expression is typical of the Buddha images in the mature phase of the Ayutthaya style. The piece is most unique in that the base and the flame are believed to be original. <br /><br />Placed in Private Collection</p>
  • <p><strong>BUDDHA HEAD</strong></p><p>STONE </p><p>AYUTTHAYA STYLE </p><p>CIRCA LATE 15<sup>TH </sup>CENTURY. </p><p>15” HIGH; WITH BASE </p><p><strong>EXHIBITED: </strong>Ithaca College Museum of Art, Ithaca, New York ,Spring 1971 Catalog exhibition entitled<strong> ‘</strong><em>Art of Thailand</em>.’ Item 49 (Catalog Cover Illustration: Loan number 414.70L <br /><br /></p><p><strong>DESCRIPTION: </strong>The elongated meditative face with downcast eyes, pronounced lips, defined chin, eyebrows in relief are characteristic of the middle Ayuthia style. The Sukhothai school influence may be seen where brows become eyebrows that arch over the eyes and plunge down the sides of the nose in two unbroken lines. The head is similar to figure 188 in Reginald Le May's book; <em>A Concise History of Buddhist Art In Siam, </em>Charles Tuttle pub., Tokyo 1962. (Ayutthaya , in the central plain area of Thailand, was the capital of the Thais from 1450 A.D. to 1778 A.D. when it was destroyed by the Burmese.) </p>
     
  • <p><strong>BALINESE HARDWOOD DOOR LEAF </strong></p><p>TROPICAL HARDWOOD </p><p>EARLY 19<sup>TH</sup> CENTURY </p><p><strong>REMARKS:</strong> The door would be used as the entrance to a Balinese </p><p>Brahmin or royal compound. The door is similar to one on exhibit at the Asian Museum, San Francisco.<br /><br />Placed in Private Collection </p>
  • <p><strong>THAI BUDDHA HEAD </strong><strong> </strong></p><p>SANDSTONE </p><p>SUKHOTHAI<strong> STYLE</strong> </p><p>CIRCA 14<sup>TH</sup> TO 17TH CENTURY. </p><p>15.5 HIGH </p><p><strong>EXHIBITED: </strong>Ithaca College Museum of Art, Ithaca, New York, spring 1971 </p><p>Catalog exhibition entitled<strong> ‘</strong><em>Art of Thailand</em>.’ Item 49: Item 22 Loan number 238.70L </p><p><strong>DESCRIPTION: </strong>The head contains the elements of the Sukhothai Style “Soaring above the usahnisha or skull protuberance is a Sukhothai innovation-the Thai flame symbolizing the Buddha’s radiant spiritual energy. The hairline forms a delicate V-shape at the top of the brow. This shape is echoed by the curved sweep of the arched eyebrows which join the bridge of a substantial hooked nose shaped like a parrot’s beak according to the scriptures. Three lines incised at the neck are also marks of the Great Being, as are the elongated earlobes denoting the Buddha’s former princely status.”* The head, while done in the Sukhothai style may not have been done during that period, but executed during the Ayutthaya period. Ayutthaya, in the central plain area of Thailand, was the capital of the Thais from 1450 A.D. to 1778 A.D. when it was destroyed by the Burmese. * The National Museum Volunteers Group: Treasures from THE NATIONAL MUSEUM; Thai Watana Panich Press, Bangkok, 1987, p39 </p>
  • <p><strong>BUDDHA ENTERING PARINIRVANA </strong></p><p>BRONZE </p><p>MANDALAY STYLE </p><p>19th CENTURY (Circa1890) </p><p>68.5 cm l x 25.5 cm h x 20.2 cm w / 27”l x 14”h x 8”w </p><p><strong>DESCRIPTION: </strong>Buddha entering<strong> <em>Parinirvana</em>:</strong> The iconography of the reclining Buddha represents the Buddha on his <em>mahdaparinivana</em>, the great and final extinction from the cycles of rebirths. The Buddha is at rest; the slender body wears monk’s garments; the folds of the robe flow over each other. The left hand toys with the thigh; the right arm supports the upper body. The meditative facial expression emphasized by the half-closed eyes which look downward and the dignified repose of the body seek to call to mind the last moments of life. </p><p>Characteristic of the Mandalay style of the Alaugpaya-Dynasty (1752-1885) are the headband with its jewel, or glass inlay, the net-like hair cap with small dots indicating curls and the usnisa without the flame (rasmi). </p>
  • <p><strong>BURMESE STANDING BUDDHA  </strong></p><p>WOOD AND LACQUER </p><p>MANDALAY STYLE </p><p>CIRCA 19<sup>th</sup> CENTURY </p><p>96.5 cm/ 38 “From base of Lotus to crown. </p><p><strong>DESCRIPTION: </strong>The lord Buddha in an adorned, jeweled sanghati in a gesture of standing with both hands downward his usnisa arranged in rows of mall rounded curls contained by a jeweled headband. Characteristic of the Mandalay style of the Alaungpaya-Dynasty (1752-1885) are the headband of Thai origin with its jewel or glass inlay, the net-like hair cap with dots of lacquer to indicate curls and usnisa without flame (rasmi). </p>
     
  • <p><strong>MINDANAO </strong><strong>,PHILIPPINES </strong><strong>GADOR </strong></p><p>WHITE METAL </p><p>MID 20TH CENTURY </p><p>16” diameter x 36” high </p><p><strong>REMARKS </strong>: A large intricate decorated white metal <em>gador</em> from southern Philippines; “in proper Marano households in older days a gador held tobacco. Now with plastic wrapped chewing and smoking tobacco readily available, the gador has become very much an item of interior decoration.” (Fessler,Loren W.; Marano Art and the Aga Khan Museum; <em>Art of Asia</em>; September-October 1977.) </p>
  • <p><strong>THAI SITTING BUDDHA</strong></p><p>BRONZE (WITH SILVER CONTENT?) </p><p>AYUTTHAYA SCHOOL </p><p>CIRCA 18<sup>TH</sup> CENTURY </p><p>66 cm / 27” high w/o /base </p><p><strong>EXHIBITED: </strong>Ithaca College Museum of Art, Ithaca, New York ,Spring 1971 Catalog exhibition entitled<strong> ‘</strong><em>Art of Thailand</em>.’ Item 15: Loan number 399.70L </p><p><strong>DESCRIPTION: </strong>The Buddha is seated in European fashion, accepting homage from the animals. The Buddha is in varada-mudra- the posture of granting a wish. The robes are those of a monk; with the right shoulder bare. In this piece the rock that the Buddha is seated on and the animals are missing. </p>
  • <p><strong>AYUTTHAYA </strong><strong>BUDDHA HEAD </strong></p><p>STONE </p><p>AYUTTHAYA -CHIENG SAN STYLE </p><p>CIRCA 15<sup>TH</sup>-17<sup>TH</sup> CENTURY. </p><p>28 cm /11” high ; 39.3 cm /15.5 high w/base </p><p><strong>EXHIBITED : </strong>Ithaca College Museum of Art, Ithaca, New York ,Spring 1971 Catalog exhibition entitled 'Art of Thailand' Loan Number 422.70L </p><p><strong>DESCRIPTION: Buddha head, Central Thailand. Ayuthua style </strong>A sandstone head of the Lord Buddha, Ayuthia style; <em>circa</em>.15th -18h centuries The strong featured, defined , meditative face, with a characteristic humane expressions indicates influences of the Lopburi and Sukothai schools on the Ayutthayan sculptors during this period. The elongated meditative face, pronounced lips, defined chin, eyebrows in relief are characteristic of the middle Ayuthia style. There are also Khmer influences in the articulated eyes. The Sukhothai school influence may be seen where brows become eyebrows that arch over the eyes and plunge down the sides of the nose in two unbroken lines. </p>
  • <p><strong>LOPBURIS BUDDHA HEAD</strong><br />SANDSTONE<br />LOPBURI SCHOOL-LATER STYLE<br />CIRCA 12th-13th CENTURY<br />32 cmx12.5 high<br /><br /><strong>EXHIBITED:</strong> Ithaca College Museum of Art, Ithaca, New York, Spring, 1971<br /><br /><strong>DESCRIPTION:</strong> A life-size, lovely weathered head of the lord Buddha from the later style of the Lopburi School. Lopburi stone sculptures have a strong expressive charachter. The half open eyes and the hint of the smile make this piece very appealing to the viewer. Lopburi was an outpost of the Khmer empire and the Lopburi school, while influenced by the art of Khmer, active for almost 1000 years until the 17th Century.</p>