A copper alloy figure of Raktalokeshvara Srivijaya, Peninsular Thailand, 8th-9th century
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5371
A copper alloy figure of Raktalokeshvara
Srivijaya, Peninsular Thailand, 8th-9th century
The deity is enshrined on a double-lotus over a square base, a cushion supporting his posture of meditation, his left hand holds the stem of a lotus while he gently opens its petals with his right, and his long jatas are piled high above his head with escaping locks spilling over his shoulders, his torso sensitively modeled and adorned with a long necklace and utapala cord, the shrine decorated with a ring of lotus buds with two symmetrically arching larger buds flanking a central projection that likely held a parasol.
7 1/2in (19 cm.) high
Sold for US$ 20,000 inc. premium

Footnotes

  • This rare form of Lokeshvara is identified by the actions of his hands holding a red lotus in one and opening the petals with the other. The sculpture is cast in two sections, and, when the figure is removed from the base, an inscription is visible directly behind it. A further inscription runs along the base's verso.

    For additional examples see M. C. Subhadradis Diskul, The Art of Srivijaya, Paris, 1980, Pl. 16 and Emma Bunker and Douglass Latchford, Khmer Bronzes, Bangkok, 2011, fig. 6.13 a&b, p. 204.

    Published:
    Emma Bunker and Douglass Latchford, Khmer Bronzes, Bangkok, 2011, fig, 6.14, p. 205.

    Provenance:
    Doris Wiener Gallery, New York, 1989

Lot heading

Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Art

Property from Various Owners

Category: Asian Art

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Angela Lee Bonhams
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Auction Administration - Asian Art