Khmer Empire, 11^th-13^th century. Of square section and stepped waisted form. Three tiers are finely cast with bands of numerous Garudas with outstretched wings or about to take flight, the outer bands further pierced and framed by lotus-petaled bands, the top tier terminating in a tapered spout and surmounted by a separately crafted circular lotus base for a lingam, made from silver alloy.

Provenance: Collection of Wallee Padungsiriseti, Bangkok, Thailand, by 2002. Raymond Handley and Marsha Vargas Handley, Xanadu Gallery, San Francisco, acquired from the above. Raymond G. Handley (1923-2009) partnered with Ray Renault in the 1950s to co-found one of California’s oldest and most successful real estate development firms. They were pioneers in shaping the early landscape of Silicon Valley, developing buildings for major tech innovators such as Intel and Raytheon, laying the groundwork for the region’s transformation into a global technology hub. Raymond Handley was a keen collector of art who traveled extensively, including the most remote parts of Papua New Guinea and Africa. In Mali, where his brother served as the Ambassador of the United States, he drilled more than fifty water wells for Dogon villages. His passion led him to establish Folk Art International/Xanadu Tribal Arts, an ethnographic art business which developed into the Xanadu Gallery in the late 1990s, located in the historic Frank Lloyd Wright building off Union Square, and continued by his widow Marsha Vargas Handley until her retirement in 2015. Having opened her first gallery in the Bay Area in 1973, she is an important figure in the Asian art world in her own right, serving as the president of the International Netsuke Society for over 16 years.
Condition: Excellent condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear, signs of weathering, encrustations, dents, nicks, scratches, minor losses, corrosion. The bronze with a superb, naturally grown patina with vibrant malachite and scattered azurite encrustations.

Weight: 6,502 g (the bronze yoni) and 110.5 g (the silver lingam base)
Dimensions: Length 28 cm, Width 21 cm, Height 15.5 cm (the bronze yoni), Diameter 8.7 cm

The presence of Garudas around the base of this yoni is particularly important as such iconography also appears on and around the monumental stone yonis at Prasat Thom in Koh Ker. Garuda, while usually associated with Vishnu, is seen here as the protector of the lingam.

The yoni (or snanadroni) is an aniconic representation of Uma, corresponding with the lingam representing Shiva. They are symbolic of the female and male reproductive organs, which within Hinduism bring a balance to the cosmos when joined together. Within Hindu countries, adoration of the lingam was understood to be worship of the great generative principle of the universe, conceptualized as an aspect of Shiva. Some of the Khmer kings identified themselves with Shiva, placing a lingam at the summit of their most important temples as part of their royal paraphernalia.

Literature comparison:
The present yoni is rare for its large size and bronze material. Its form closely follows larger sandstone examples also dated to the Angkor period, see one in the Kampong Thom Museum.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 23 March 1999, lot 222
Price: USD 9,200 or approx. EUR 17,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A quartz linga and gilt bronze yoni, Thailand, 15^th century or earlier
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form. Note the gilding, separate cylindrical cover, lack of any décor, and much smaller size (11.8 cm). Also note the erroneous Thai attribution.

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