10th Apr, 2025 11:00
TWO-DAY AUCTION: Fine Asian Art, Buddhism and Hinduism
237
A BRONZE HEAD OF MAITREYA, PRE-ANGKORIAN PERIOD, PRAKHON CHAI, 7TH-9TH CENTURY
Sold for €3,900
including Buyer's Premium
Thailand. Finely cast, the face with a serene expression, arched eyebrows, incised almond-shaped eyes, delicately outlined lips in a smile below a slight moustache, flanked by pierced pendulous earlobes, the hair combed into a tall jatamakuta with five tiers of looped curls and set with a diminutive stupa to the center.
Provenance: RR Collection, Belgium, acquired in the 1970s-1980s by the father of the previous owner and thence by direct descent. A provenance statement by the previous owner, confirming the above and revealing the collector’s identity, will be provided to the winning bidder after full payment has been received.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Wear, obvious losses, scattered nicks, encrustations. The bronze with a rich, naturally grown patina with vibrant malachite encrustations.
Weight: 1,443.1 g (excl. stand), 1,654.5 g (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 16.4 cm (excl. stand), 22 cm (incl. stand)
This head can be identified as Maitreya, the Buddha of the Future, by the stupa in his matted, piled-up hair. The style of the head is associated with bronzes excavated at Prakhon Chai and shows the influence of Khmer art. Situated along trade routes crossing from India, through Burma and Thailand, towards Cambodia and beyond, Prakhon Chai was a place of confluence, affluence, and the reception and transmission of great spiritual and artistic knowledge. The style displays a fusion of these international intersections in a uniquely local expression that would appear only in this particular place and only for a limited time. The elaborate looping coiffure of the braided hair in the present example is distinctive to the region, the looping strands neatly arranged in symmetrical rows, contrasting with the wild jatamukutas of Shaiva ascetics as they are depicted in India.
Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related bronze head of Maitreya, Thailand, 8th century, 13 cm high, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, accession number IS.24-1988. Compare a related bronze figure of Maitreya, described as “Prakhon Chai style”, 47.6 cm high, formerly in the collection of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth and sold at Christie’s New York, 21 March 2005, lot 1067. Compare a related bronze figure of Avalokiteshvara, Thailand, Khorat plateau, dated early 8th century, 53.5 cm high, at Lempertz, Cologne, 9 December 2016, lot 633.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s Paris, 20 June 2017, lot 167
Price: EUR 7,500 or approx. EUR 8,900 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A bronze head of Avalokiteshvara, Cambodia, Pre-Angkor, 7th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and similar tall, stylized jatamakuta. Note the much smaller size (11 cm).
Thailand. Finely cast, the face with a serene expression, arched eyebrows, incised almond-shaped eyes, delicately outlined lips in a smile below a slight moustache, flanked by pierced pendulous earlobes, the hair combed into a tall jatamakuta with five tiers of looped curls and set with a diminutive stupa to the center.
Provenance: RR Collection, Belgium, acquired in the 1970s-1980s by the father of the previous owner and thence by direct descent. A provenance statement by the previous owner, confirming the above and revealing the collector’s identity, will be provided to the winning bidder after full payment has been received.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Wear, obvious losses, scattered nicks, encrustations. The bronze with a rich, naturally grown patina with vibrant malachite encrustations.
Weight: 1,443.1 g (excl. stand), 1,654.5 g (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 16.4 cm (excl. stand), 22 cm (incl. stand)
This head can be identified as Maitreya, the Buddha of the Future, by the stupa in his matted, piled-up hair. The style of the head is associated with bronzes excavated at Prakhon Chai and shows the influence of Khmer art. Situated along trade routes crossing from India, through Burma and Thailand, towards Cambodia and beyond, Prakhon Chai was a place of confluence, affluence, and the reception and transmission of great spiritual and artistic knowledge. The style displays a fusion of these international intersections in a uniquely local expression that would appear only in this particular place and only for a limited time. The elaborate looping coiffure of the braided hair in the present example is distinctive to the region, the looping strands neatly arranged in symmetrical rows, contrasting with the wild jatamukutas of Shaiva ascetics as they are depicted in India.
Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related bronze head of Maitreya, Thailand, 8th century, 13 cm high, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, accession number IS.24-1988. Compare a related bronze figure of Maitreya, described as “Prakhon Chai style”, 47.6 cm high, formerly in the collection of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth and sold at Christie’s New York, 21 March 2005, lot 1067. Compare a related bronze figure of Avalokiteshvara, Thailand, Khorat plateau, dated early 8th century, 53.5 cm high, at Lempertz, Cologne, 9 December 2016, lot 633.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s Paris, 20 June 2017, lot 167
Price: EUR 7,500 or approx. EUR 8,900 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A bronze head of Avalokiteshvara, Cambodia, Pre-Angkor, 7th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and similar tall, stylized jatamakuta. Note the much smaller size (11 cm).
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