 BRONZE KETTLE DRUM Current and Past Exhibitions
No. 1.BRONZE KETTLE DRUM.NORTHERN VIETNAM.DONG SON CULTURE.3RD CENTURY BC – 1ST CENTURY AD.H. 65 CMS, 25 ½ INS.D. (AT SHOULDER) 86 CMS, 34 INS.D. (Tympanum) 78 CMS, 30 ¾ INS. A large and exceptionally rare bronze kettle-drum, cast by the lost-wax method, with a deep green patina, the shoulder and main body with a series of vertical and horizontal bands of dash lines, saw-teeth and linked circles, decorated with fish, birds and scenes of feather men in boats and wielding spears and shields; the tympanum with similar geometric bands surrounding a twelve-point star and interspersed with multiple aquatic birds, round and flat roofed houses, pairs of standing figures pounding rice, platforms containing drummers beating time with sticks and parading musicians, the sides with two pairs of double ‘rope’ handles. This spectacular drum is a veritable tour de force of bronze casting. Among its many remarkable features is the presence of drummers beating kettle drums with long poles, an important clue to the function of these objects and to the method by which they were played. Dong Son drums, also known as Heger Type I drums, are mainly attributed to the Dong Son culture, centred on the Red River Delta of northern Vietnam. They were produced from around 600 BC until the third century AD and have been found across a vast area of Southeast Asia from Vietnam and Southern China to eastern Indonesia. There has been much speculation as to whether the drums were made for religious ceremonies such as harvest rituals or burials, served to rally men for war, or if they had a more secular role. In folk lore they are known as ‘rain drums’ and played to summon rain or to placate storms.One of the most celebrated examples of Dong Son drums is named Hoàng Ha (after the village in which it was discovered) and closely resembles this example – see p. 121 in Ha Thuc Can, The Bronze Dong Son Drums, Singapore and Hong Kong, 1989. This drum is also illustrated as plate 11.20b in A. J. Bernet Kempers, The Kettledrums of Southeast Asia: A Bronze Age World and Its Aftermath, Rotterdam and Brookfield: A.A. Balkema, 1988 and on pp. 6-7 in Pham Huy Thong et al, Dong Son Drums in Vietnam, Social Science Publishing House, 1990.
|  SANDSTONE HANUMAN TORSO Current and Past Exhibitions
No. 11.SANDSTONE HANUMAN TORSO.CENTRAL INDIA.MADHYA PRADESH.10TH – 11TH CENTURY.H. 165 CMS, 65 INS.W. 145 CMS, 57 INS.A monumental reddish sandstone torso of Hanuman,the Monkey God, sculpted in a dynamic sideways aspectwith his right arm and left leg raised and his left hand ina delicate form of vitarka (teaching) mudra; resplendentin elaborate jewellery including basubands withKirtimukha (Face-of-Glory) motifs, necklaces, bracelets and rings, a ceremonial dagger at his belt, with theremains of his tail trailing diagonally across his back.Hanuman, devotee of Lord Rama (the 7th avatar ofVishnu) is the most celebrated character in the Indianepic, The Ramayana. His most famous feat was to leadan army of monkeys in support of Rama, to fight thedemon King Ravana.This remarkable sculpture has a tremendous sense ofrestrained energy. For a closely related, 145 cm imageof Hanuman in the Gwalior Archaeological Museum,Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, see scan no. 0013767 in theHuntington Archive of Buddhist and Related art: http://huntington.wmc.ohio state.edu/ public/index.cfm?fuseaction=show ThisDetail&ObjectID=14554The Archaeological Museum, Khajuraho, has a complete, highrelief figure of Varaha in similar pose - see pp 116-7 inGrace Morley, Indian Sculpture, New Delhi: Roli Books, 2005. A second figure of Varaha in the L.A. County Museum of Art wears a similar dagger - see cat. no. 44 in P. Pal, The Sensuous Immortals: A Selection of Sculptures from thePan-Asian Collection, L.A. County Museum of Art, 1977. A related image of Bhairava from the Heeramaneck collection has similar Kirtimukha basubands – see cat. no. 43 in Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, The Arts of India and Nepal: The Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection, Boston: MFA, 1966.Note: This sculpture weighs 580 kg and is too heavy to display in our gallery. It can be viewed byarrangement in our storage facility.
|  A GROUP OF STANDING BUDDHAS Current and Past Exhibitions
Catalogue nos. 17 TO 20.A GROUP OF STANDING BUDDHAS. LAOS, FROM THE VICINITY OF LUANG PRABANG.SECOND HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY.H. (L. TO R. INCLUDING FINIALS): 47 CMS, 18 ½ INS; 62 CMS; 24 ½ INS; 69 CMS, 27 INS; 51 CMS, 20 INS.A group of four gilded and lacquered wood figures of standing Buddhas, each on a raised pedestal, their raised usnishas topped by lotiform or flame finials, the eyes half-closed in meditation and the faces with serene expressions; both arms pendant by the sides in the ‘Calling for Rain’ posture. For more information on this type, please refer to the entry for catalogue nos. 4 to 8.
|  3. SANDSTONE FIGURE OF VISHNU Current and Past Exhibitions
3. SANDSTONE FIGURE OF VISHNU.KHMER, PRE-ANGKOR PERIOD,7TH - 8TH CENTURY.H. (EXCLUDING TANG): 67 CMS, 26 ½ INS.H. (INCLUDING TANG): 84 CMS, 33 INS .An important sandstone figure of a four-armed Vishnu, dynamic and powerful, standing on a rectangular pedestal and wearing a cylindrical mitre headdress; the face meditative and smiling serenely; the contours of his lower body visible beneath a diaphanous ankle-length sampot, its folds delineated by faintly incised lines, with a long central sash hanging down between his legs.Note: The ankles are repaired.Vishnu, together with Brahma and Siva, is one of the members of the Hindu trimurti (Skt. “Triple Form”). Vishnu becomes incarnate in different divine forms (avatars) from age to age in order to preserve the world.For a related image, attributed to the Mekong Delta, see plate 10 in Emma Bunker and Douglas Latchford, Adoration and Glory: The Golden Age of Khmer Art, Chicago: Art Media Resources, 2004.PROVENANCE: Property of a private Japanese collector.
|  SANDSTONE FIGURE OF VISHNU Current and Past Exhibitions
No. 9.SANDSTONE FIGURE OF VISHNU.KHMER, PRE-ANGKOR PERIOD, PHNOM DA STYLE, 6TH - 7TH CENTURY.H. 28.5 CMS, 11 ¼ INS.A grey sandstone figure of a four-armed Vishnu, the face broad and imposing beneath a mitre headdress, the upper left hand holding a conch and the upper right a chakra, the belt and pleats of the knee-length sampot delineated by shallow, incised lines.Note: The cross-bar behind the head has been repaired.For a related figure of a Phnom Da Vishnu in the Phnom Penh Museum, see plate 84 in M. Girard-Geslan et al, Art of Southeast Asia, New York: Harry N. Abrams Inc, 1998.PROVENANCE: Property of a private Japanese collector.
|  STUCCO HEAD OF A WOMAN AND STUCCO HEAD OF BUDDHA (SOLD) Current and Past Exhibitions
No. 16(LEFT).STUCCO HEAD OF A WOMAN.THAILAND, MON-DVARAVATI PERIOD, 7TH - 8TH CENTURY.H. 18.5 CMS, 7 ¼ INS.No. 16 (RIGHT).STUCCO HEAD OF BUDDHA.THAILAND, SUKHOTHAI PERIOD, 14TH CENTURY.H. 13 CMS, 5 INS.SOLDPROVENANCE (BOTH): Property of a private Japanese collector.
|  SANDSTONE HANDS OF A DEITY Current and Past Exhibitions
No. 23(LEFT). LARGE BRONZE HAND OF BUDDHA .THAILAND, SUKHOTHAI PERIOD, 14TH CENTURY.L. 25 CMS, 10 INS.Reference: see nos. 58a and b in T. Bowie (ed.), The Sculpture of Thailand, Exhibition catalogue, New York: Asia Society, 1972.SOLDNo. 24 (CENTRE).SANDSTONE HAND OF A DEITY, POSSIBLY PRAJNAPARAMITA, HOLDING A LOTUS.KHMER, ANGKOR PERIOD, BAYON STYLE, LATE 12TH – EARLY 13TH CENTURY.L. 19 CMS, 7 ½ INS.No. 25(RIGHT). BRONZE HAND OF A MALE DEITY.SOLD.PROVENANCE (ALL THREE): Property of a private Japanese collector.
|  Colossal reddish-brown terracotta piggy bank
ST122.A colossal reddish-brown terracotta piggy bank of squat and corpulent form, the face humorous and smiling, with a long curling tail and a bell and chain around his neck.Eastern Javanese, Majapahit period.15th century.Length: 52 cm, 20 ½ ins.A long tradition of trade between China and Java culminated with the establishment of a trading colony in 1297. The Chinese were subsequently responsible for the first regular use of coins in Java, a practice that became widespread by the 15th century. During the 14th and 15th centuries, large numbers of terracotta rams, turtles, frogs and pigs were made, all provided with a slot in the back for the insertion of copper coins. Pigs were particularly popular because of their association with prosperity and were modelled with great care, usually wearing heavy necklaces and consisting of short, squat legs supporting great fat bodies. Elephants are rare. Javanese money-boxes were unlikely to have been owned by individuals and probably had a ritual function, attached to household or village shrines.
|  Blackstone figure of Vishnu atop Garuda Current and Past Exhibitions
ST417 Blackstone figure of Vishnu atop Garuda.Nepal, Kathmandu Valley, circa 16th century. H. (excl. tang) 49 cms, 19 1/2 ins.A superb, polished blackstone figure of a four-armed Vishnu with an intense spiritual gaze, standing on a lotus pedestal atop a Garuda with outstretched wings, wearing extensive jewellery and holding a club, a chakra, a lotus and a conch; with four kneeling acolytes at his feet.Reference: no. 97 in S. & J. Huntington, Leaves from the Bodhi Tree: The Art of Pala India and Its International Legacy, Dayton Art Institute, 1990.
|  Painted plaster Caste Figures
CASTE FIGURES.INDIA, 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY.H. 11 CMS, 4 ¼ INS..A delightful collection of thirty-six plaster figures of officials, religious figures, tradesmen, servants and mendicants, each individually modelled and painted by hand.These expertly modelled and painted figures provide a snapshot of different levels of Indian society during the late nineteenth century. Such figures are fragile and do not normally survive in such numbers or in such an excellent condition. They were usually made of plaster and some were later embellished with cloth garments and with hair. They were mostly produced by local craftsmen in Krishnanagar near Calcutta, Lucknow and Poona as souvenirs for European visitors to the country. Their secondary purpose appears to have been to help westerners make sense of the bewildering complexity of Indian society. For a related group in the Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, see cat. no. 365 in Bayly, C.A. (general editor), The Raj: India and the British 1600-1947. London: National Portrait Gallery, 1990. Provenance: English private collection.
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