 WOODEN TEMPLE STRUT ( TUNALA) Current and Past Exhibitions
No. 15.WOODEN TEMPLE STRUT (TUNALA).NEPAL. KATHMANDU VALLEY.EARLY MALLA PERIOD.13TH - 14TH CENTURY.H. 95 CMS, 37 ½ INS.W. 16.5 CMS, 6 ½ INS.A sensuous, exquisitely carved wooden temple strut (tunala) depicting a celestial female (devata)with long flowing hair and wearing extensive jewellery, dancing beneath a flowering tree on top of a hermit sage who sits clutching his beard.The Newar ethnic group of Nepal was responsible for many of the greatest masterpieces of Buddhist and Hindu art. The Malla Period (1200–1768), and in particular the Early Malla period of the 13th to 15th centuries, is regarded as the Newari ‘Golden Age’. During the Early Malla period a thriving trade with Tibet led to the establishment of a wealthy merchant class which became a major source ofpatronage for religious establishments. The wooden temples of the Kathmandu valley have roofs supported by cantilevered struts, typically carved with figures of beautiful celestial maidens standing on the backs of male dwarf figures.Female figures of this type are reminiscent of yakshis (nature spirits), the posture of this example recalling the Salabhanjika (‘tree fertilising’) pose found in ancient Indian sculpture. The devata grasps a branch, forcing nature to wake from dormancy and causing the tree to bloom.The Metropolitan Museum, New York city, has a closely related example - see the following link: http://tinyurl.com/ycg7jmjFor another example of similar date in the ArtGallery of New South Wales, see page 87 inOrientations, Sept. 2000.
|  HEAD OF BUDDHA Current and Past Exhibitions
No. 17.HEAD OF BUDDHA.THAILAND.AYUTTHAYA PERIOD, 16TH CENTURY.H. (INCL. FINIAL): 57 CMS, 22 ½ INS.H. (EXCL. FINIAL): 33 CMS, 13 INS.A large, superbly cast bronze head of Buddha Sakyamuni, the hair arranged in rows of snail-shell curls rising to a domed usnisha, the face smiling and serene and the eyes inlaid with mother of pearl and downcast in meditation beneath sweeping brows; extensive gilding across the surface.For more on the Kingdom of Ayutthaya, see cat. no. 14.For a similar head (in this instance, that of a crowned Buddha) see fig. 249 in Hiram W. Woodward, The Sacred Sculpture of Thailand. The Alexander B. Griswold Collection, Baltimore: Walters Art Gallery, 1997. Note: The finial is a later replacement.
|  SEATED MONK (PHRA MALAI) Current and Past Exhibitions
No. 18.SEATED MONK (PHRA MALAI).THAILAND.AYUTTHAYA PERIOD, 17TH CENTURY.H. 30 CMS, 12 INS. An enchanting gilded bronze figure of the venerable monk Phra Malai, seated in bhumisparsimudra with his left hand holding the remains of his monastic fan, his face with an intense spiritual gaze, wearing a thin sanghati with a narrow sash over the left shoulder. Phra Malai was a Buddhist monk who acquired special powers through meditation, enabling him to visit heaven and hell. He subsequently returned to earth and began to preach that our actions in life would lead to either future suffering or to happiness. For more on the Kingdom of Ayutthaya, see cat. no. 14.The Asian Art Museum, San Francisco has a late Ayutthaya period illustrated manuscript with scenes from the Phra Malai story – see cat. no. 80, p. 105 in F. McGill et al, The Kingdom of Siam: The Art of Central Thailand, San Francisco: Asian Art Museum, 2005.PROVENANCE: Private English collection.
|  STANDING BUDDHA Current and Past Exhibitions
No. 19.STANDING BUDDHA.THAILAND.LATE AYUTTHAYA PERIOD, LATE 17TH CENTURY.H. (Overall) 62 CMS, 24 ½ INS.An intricately cast gilded bronze figure of Buddha, standing on a tiered pedestal with both hands raised in abhayamudra (the gesture of ‘dispelling fear’), extensively jewelled and decorated with glass and mirror inlay, the earlobes long with lotus earrings, the face meditative and serene beneath a tiered diadem terminating in a tapering finial.For more on the Kingdom of Ayutthaya, see cat. no. 14.This outstanding Buddha is typical of the ornate images made during the latter part of the Ayutthaya period. For a related, seated example from the Bangkok National Museum see fig. 74 in Rita Ringis (ed.), Treasures from the National Museum, Bangkok, Bangkok: National Museum Volunteers Group, 1995. PROVENANCE: Private French collection.
|  WOODEN SECTION FROM A TYMPANUM Current and Past Exhibitions
No. 21.WOODEN SECTION FROM A TYMPANUMNEPAL, 17TH - 18TH CENTURY.H. 68 CMS, 26 ¾ INS.W. 115 CMS, 45 INS.A remarkable wooden section from a tympanum depicting Krishna playing his flute and supported by a pair of naked gopis. Tympanums are typical features of traditional Nepali architecture and are situated above a door or window.The story of Krishna (an incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu), his early life as a cowherd and his magnetic appeal to the women he encounters is an enormously popular theme in Indian literature and art. Krishna is often shown playing his flute while female cowherds, known as gopis, attend him. Despite the fact that it was sculpted in the 17th or 18th century, this sensuous carving has a remarkably ‘contemporary’ feel. It is reminiscent of a number of early 20th century European paintings; most notably Henri Matisse’s celebrated work ‘The Dance’.For a complete tympanum see cat. no. S57 in P. Pal, Art of Nepal: A Catalogue of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Collection, LACMA and University of California Press, 1985.PROVENANCE: Private French collection.
|  BRONZE SEATED BUDDHA Current and Past Exhibitions
No. 22.BRONZE SEATED BUDDHALAOS, 17TH – 18TH CENTURY.H. (excluding flame finial) 112 CMS, 44 INS.A large, elegant bronze figure of the Buddha, seated in virasana on a tiered pedestal with upturned corners, his right hand in bhumisparsimudra (the gesture of ‘summoning the earth to witness’) and his left resting in his lap in dhyanamudra; the face smiling and serene beneath a conical usnisha, wearing a sanghati with a serrated motif on the hem, a broad shoulder flap extending down to the navel. 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.The pedestal on which the figure sits, with its upturned edges, represents an open lotus. The absence of lotus petals on the pedestal indicates a 17th or 18th century date. For two comparable examples, please see pages 198 and 205 in S. Lopetcharat, Lao Buddha: The Image and Its History, Bangkok: Siam International Book Company, 2000.
|  STANDING BUDDHA Current and Past Exhibitions
No. 25.STANDING BUDDHATHAILAND.BANGKOK STYLE, RATANAKOSIN PERIOD.19TH CENTURY.H. (Overall) 158 CMS, 62 ½ INS.An elaborately cast gilded bronze figure of Buddha, standing on an octagonal stepped pedestal with both hands raised in abhayamudra (the gesture of ‘dispelling fear’), extensively jewelled and decorated with glass inlay, the earlobes long with upturned flourishes, the face meditative and serene beneath a removable tiered diadem terminating in a tapering finial.For a related example from the Bangkok National Museum see fig. 78 in Rita Ringis (ed.), Treasures from the National Museum, Bangkok, Bangkok: National Museum Volunteers Group, 1995. For a second example from the Prasart Museum, Bangkok, see page 181 in S. Van Beek and L. Tettoni, The Arts Of Thailand, Hong Kong: Periplus Editions, 2000. PROVENANCE: Private German collection. Purchased from Galerie L. Hartl Klassische Asiatika, Munich.
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AN IMPORTANT GROUP OF SCULPTURES FROM SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST ASIA.