 PAIR OF BRONZE RECUMBENT OXEN Current and Past Exhibitions
Catalogue no. 21.PAIR OF BRONZE RECUMBENT OXEN. CHINA.WARRING STATES PERIOD.475 – 221 BC.L. 8.5 CMS, 3 3/8 INS. . A fine pair of recumbent bronze oxen, each animal solidly cast with folded legs, their horned heads turned to one side and tails swished over their backs; their bodies exquisitely inlaid with decorative spirals of gold and silver. These bronze oxen were probably used as weights. Compare to an exquisite pair of bronze leopards with garnet eyes, unearthed in the tomb of Princess Dou Wan (2nd century BC) and illustrated on page 107, C. Blunden and M. Elvin, Cultural Atlas of China, Phaidon, 1983. PROVENANCE: Private English collection. Acquired by the owner’s father during employment with the British Foreign Service during the 1950s or 1960s.
|  PORCELAIN FAMILLE VERTE SAUCER DISH
CATALOGUE NO. 22.PORCELAIN FAMILLE VERTE SAUCER DISH.CHINA.KANGXI PERIOD, 1662-1722.D. 34.5 CMS, 13 ½ INS.A fine porcelain saucer dish brightly decorated in famille verte enamels, showing a court scene depicting the Emperor and his officials seated at a table enjoying an acrobatic display, all supported on a short tapering double foot-ring. For a famille verte dish of similar size but with a different story depicted see plate 173, page 159, Christian J. A. Jorg, Chinese Ceramics in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 1997. Compare also to a much larger famille verte dish decorated with the Tang Emperor Xuanzong, illustrated as plate 35, page 58, Recent Acquistions, Marchant and Son, 2002.PROVENANCE: Private English collection. Formerly in the collection of Dr Fleischer, Berlin, purchased in 1990 (by repute).
|  BLUE AND WHITE KRAAK PORCELAIN CHARGER Current and Past Exhibitions
Catalogue no. 23.BLUE AND WHITE KRAAK PORCELAIN CHARGER.CHINA.WANLI PERIOD.1573-1619.D. 50 CMS, 20 INS.A magnificent Kraak porcelain charger, with slightly scalloped flat rim, the rounded, shallow cavetto painted in underglaze blue, the centre depicting a beautiful basket of flowers, the surrounding border divided into characteristic narrow panels with Buddhist emblems and wider panels alternating with phoenixes, sunflowers and auspicious symbols, the underside with fan-shaped cartouches between bands, the base recessed.Kraak porcelain was named after Portuguese merchant ships (carracks), intercepted and captured at sea by the Dutch during the early to mid 17th century. This type of porcelain was produced mainly in Fujian and Jiangxi provinces or in the coastal areas of China, and carracks transported it to Europe. Dishes of this type were referred to in VOC records as ‘lampetschotels’ (basins). For a dish of similar size see plate 40, page 59, Christiaan J. A. Jorg, Chinese Ceramics in the Collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 1997.PROVENANCE: Private English collection.
|  SANDSTONE HEAD OF VISHNU Current and Past Exhibitions
Catalogue no. 25.SANDSTONE HEAD OF VISHNU.KHMER.PRE-ANGKOR PERIOD.7TH - 8TH CENTURY.H. 20 CMS, 8 ½ INS.An exceptional grey sandstone head of a male deity, probably Vishnu, with an enigmatic smile; wearing large earrings and a tall, slightly tapering mitre headdress. 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.This style of Pre-Khmer sculpture used to be referred to as Prasat Andet. For a related image in the Cleveland Museum of Art, see plate 14 in Emma Bunker and Douglas Latchford, Adoration and Glory: The Golden Age of Khmer Art, Chicago: Art Media Resources, 2004. See also plate 19 in M. Giteau, Khmer Sculpture and the Angkor Civilisation. London: Thames and Hudson, 1965. PROVENANCE: Private English collection. Acquired by the owner’s father during employment with the British Foreign Service during the 1950s or 1960s.
|  STUCCO HEAD OF BUDDHA Current and Past Exhibitions
Catalogue no. 3.STUCCO HEAD OF BUDDHA.NORTHWEST PAKISTAN OR AFGHANISTAN.GANDHARA.4TH - 5TH CENTURY.H. 24 CMS, 9 ½ INS.A serene, elegant white stucco head of the Buddha, the eyes down cast in meditation and the mouth set with a gentle half smile, the hair rising in waves to a bun-shaped usnisha; traces of pigments remaining.The use of stucco and terracotta as a substitute for the grey schist of many early Gandhara sculptures led to a greater freedom of expression and innovation. Perhaps the finest of all the many examples of stucco Buddha heads is the one in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Widely published and admired, it is variously ascribed to either Hadda or Taxila - see catalogue no. 120 in Stanislaw Czuma, Kushan Sculpture: Images from early India, Cleveland Museum of Art, 1985.
|  BRONZE SEATED BUDDHA Current and Past Exhibitions
Catalogue no. 32.BRONZE SEATED BUDDHA.LAOS.19TH CENTURY.H. 83 CMS, 32 ½ INS.An intricately cast bronze figure of the Buddha, seated in bhumisparsimudra (the gesture of ‘summoning the earth to witness’) on an elaborate tiered pedestal, the face smiling and serene beneath a domed usnisha rising to a tall flame finial; traces of gilding and red lacquer remaining. The Lao kingdom of Lan Xang, or Lan Chang was established in 1354 by Prince Fa Ngum (1316-1393), who spent his childhood years at the Khmer capital of Angkor. Under his rule the kingdom became powerful and wealthy and extended to cover the northeast region of present-day Thailand. By the 17th century Lan Xang entered a period of decline marked by dynastic struggles and conflicts with its neighbours, and control was eventually lost to Siam. In 1707 it was divided into two principalities centred on Luang Prabang in the north and Vientiane to the south. Theravada Buddhism is the country’s predominant religion.For a comparable example please see page 250 (bottom right) in S. Lopetcharat, Lao Buddha: The Image and Its History, Bangkok: Siam International Book Company, 2000.
|  TABERNACLE WITH SEATED BUDDHA Current and Past Exhibitions
Catalogue no. 6.TABERNACLE WITH SEATED BUDDHA.THAILAND.LOPBURI STYLE.12TH – 13TH CENTURY.H. (OVERALL) 65 CMS, 25 ½ INS.W. (BOTTOM OF BASE) 23 CMS, 9 INS.An exceptionally rare and important bronze tabernacle of four parts, containing a crowned and jewelled Buddha seated in bhumisparsimudra (the gesture of ‘summoning the earth to witness’) on a tall pedestal decorated with dancing apsaras and the demons of Mara’s army, wearing a three-piece monastic robe, elaborate crown, necklace and earrings once set with precious or semi-precious stones, the central figure enclosed by a naga arch and a flame-edged aureole; the entire ensemble surmounted by a stylised bodhi tree containing three further Buddhas and a circular boss representing the sun.This outstanding, elaborate image has a glossy, greenish-black patina and represents the final week of the Buddha’s fast as he overcomes Mara and attains enlightenment. During the early part of the 13th century the central Thai province of Lopburi shook off its domination by the Khmers and enjoyed a brief period as an independent kingdom. Works of art produced in Lopburi during the 12th to 13th century are heavily influenced by Khmer idioms and include a number of examples (such as this one), of crowned and jewelled Buddhas seated within tabernacles, or ‘jewelled houses’. After the founding of Ayutthaya in 1350 Lopburi succumbed rapidly to its more powerful neighbour and was incorporated into that kingdom. Large, complete tabernacles of this type rarely appear on the art market - the last that I am aware of was in 1998 - see Spink, The Lion of the Shakyas, cat. no. 6. For an almost identical example in the Linden-Museum, Stuttgart, see cat. no. 118, p. 108 in G. Kreisel, Linden-Museum Stuttgart: Südasien-Abteilung, Linden-Museum Stuttgart, 1987 (also published in Spink, Exhibition: Indian Influence on Art in South-East Asia, London, 1970). The L.A. County Museum of Art has a fine double-sided example – see no. 131 in P. Pal, The Sensuous Immortals: A Selection of Sculptures from the Pan-Asian Collection, L.A. County Museum of Art, 1977. For two smaller, less elaborate examples see nos. 13 and 14 in P. Krairiksh, Khmer Bronzes: A Selection from the Suan Phka Tevoda Collection, Lugano, 1982.
|  SANDSTONE HEAD OF BUDDHA Current and Past Exhibitions
Catalogue no. 8.SANDSTONE HEAD OF BUDDHA. CHINA.PROBABLY FROM SHANXI PROVINCE.NORTHERN SONG DYNASTY.960 - 1127 AD.H. 32 CMS, 12 ½ INS.An over life-sized pale sandstone head of Buddha, sensitively modelled with a benign, tranquil expression, the eyes cast downwards in meditation, the hair arranged in bands of snail shell curls rising to a domed usnisha; with traces of pigment in the recesses.For a prototype of this style, dated to the Liao dynasty (1038), please compare with the painted clay figure of Buddha with attendants in the Huayan Temple (Datong, Shanxi Province) – see page 375 in A.F. Howard et al, Chinese Sculpture, Yale University Press, 2006.
|  Greyish brown sandstone head of the Buddha Muchalinda Current and Past Exhibitions
11. Greyish brown sandstone head of the Buddha Muchalinda. Khmer, Angkor Period, Bayon style.Late 12th — early 13th century.H. 35 cms, 13 ¾ ins. Provenance: Private Swiss Collection, acquired between1945-1975.Reference: See catalogue no. 94 in Angkor et dix siècles d’art Khmer, Exhibition catalogue, Paris: Reunion des Musées Nationaux, 1997.
|  Sandstone head of a Jain Tirthankara (Jina). Current and Past Exhibitions
5. Sandstone head of a Jain Tirthankara (Jina). Northern India, Probably Uttar Pradesh.10th - 11th century.H. 15 cms, 6 ins.An exquisite pale buff sandstone head of a Jain Tirthankara (Jina), sensitively modelled with a benign, tranquil expression beneath bow-shaped brows. The principal Jain pantheon consists of twenty-four Tirthankaras (or saviours), the first being Rishabhanatha and the last Mahavira. A Tirthankara, or Jina has successfully passed through all the cycles of rebirth to create a passage for believers. Mahavira (c. 599-527 BC) was a historical figure and a near contemporary of the Buddha. For a comparable head, see fig. 53 in J. C. Harle and A. Topsfield, Indian Art in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1987.
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