Louise Termignon
Stock Inventory and Discovery Sale Coordinator
Lot 9
SANCTUAIRE DE SURYA EN ALLIAGE DE CUIVRE Inde, Bengale, Période Pala, Xe siècle
12 December 2025, 11:00 CET
Paris, Avenue Hoche€3,000 - €5,000
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Alvina Ang
Sale Coordinator & Cataloguer
Theresa McCullough
Senior Specialist
Mark Rasmussen
International Director
SANCTUAIRE DE SURYA EN ALLIAGE DE CUIVRE
Inde, Bengale, Période Pala, Xe siècle
A COPPER ALLOY SHRINE OF SURYA
India, Bengal, Pala period, 10th century
12.5 cm (4 7/8 in.) high
A COPPER ALLOY SHRINE OF SURYA
India, Bengal, Pala period, 10th century
12.5 cm (4 7/8 in.) high
Footnotes
Surya is identified by two fully bloomed lotuses, symbols of the sun's radiant power. He stands upon a mandala-shaped base forming a chariot, with a tiny charioteer seated at his feet and horses depicted in motion below. Surya is flanked by attendants, while small donor figures and two archers appear on the base. The entire scene is framed within a flaming aureole.
As the solar deity, Surya embodies the source of light and, by extension, life itself. His origins can be traced to the Rigveda, the earliest Indian text, and he shares traits with other ancient traditions that envision the sun as a chariot traversing the sky. His occasional depiction wearing a tunic and high boots reflects links to early Iranian solar cults.
This type of Pala-period bronze later influenced Himalayan depictions of Surya. The robust figures and the pointed apex of the aureole find close parallels in a 10th-century bronze figure of Revanta, the son of the Sun God Surya, in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago (acc. no. 1981.641).
Provenance
Sotheby's, Colonnade Oriental Art, London, 20 October 1995, Lot 343
Private Collection, Belgium, acquired from the above;
Thence by descent.
印度 孟加拉 帕拉時期 十世紀 太陽神銅像
來源
蘇富比，Colonnade Oriental Art，倫敦，1995年10月20日，拍品343
比利時私人收藏，購於上者
後由家族傳承