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A copper alloy figure of Visvakarman Thailand, 13th/14th Century
Sold for US$20,000 inc. premium
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A copper alloy figure of Visvakarman
Defined by the adze held in his right hand, the celestial architect faces frontal kneeling on a simple block platform. His long torso is adorned with a short, pleated sampot which folds down into his lap and is adorned with rosettes at the back.
Three lines incised across his abdomen are revealed, indicating folds of the flesh similar to those found around his neck. His beaded armbands are centered by large round cabochon jewels and repeated in the wide pectoral, bud-shaped earrings hand to his shoulders, and vertical rows of braids are upswept in a towering coiffure framed by a narrow foliate diadem.
9 1/4 in. (23.5 cm.) high
Footnotes
It was during the great building projects commenced by King Jayavarman VII (r.1181-1291) that Vishvakarman iconography became popular within he Khmer empire. An the embodiment of a sculptor, architect and priest, the deity is Hindu in origin and was first referred to in the Vedas and Puranas. Regardless, during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, his image of revered by both Buddhists and Hindu worshippers in the region. Not only were bronzes cast prolifically cast in Cambodia, but also many remain extant from Khmer territory in Thailand in the thirteenth century when Brahmanic casting was rare, see Boisselier, 1975, pp. 124-125.
The present lot is apart of this later group from Lopburi and he shows strong influence Bayon elements in his modeling and facial form. Compare with a smaller and less refined example in Bunker and Latchford, Khmer Bronzes, 2011, no. 5.26, p. 170. Another is in the Suan Pakkad Palace Collection, see Diskul et. al, 1982, no. 26, p. 47.
























