17th Oct, 2024 11:00
TWO-DAY AUCTION: Fine Asian Art, Buddhism and Hinduism
194
A PINK SANDSTONE FIGURE OF A CELESTIAL BEAUTY, SURASUNDARI, 11TH CENTURY
Sold for €16,900
including Buyer's Premium
Rajasthan or Central India. Finely carved, standing in a dynamic pose with her right arm raised as her body twists in a dancing motion, next to an ornate column exquisitely detailed with small figures and beasts as well as decorative elements such as beads and petals. She is richly adorned with elaborate jewelry around her neck and waist, and a small long-tailed bird rests on her lowered right arm as she feeds it, with her thumb and finger pressed together near the beak. Her face with downcast almond-shaped eyes and full lips forming a beguiling smile, the hair neatly incised.
Provenance: Austrian private collection.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear, signs of weathering and erosion, nicks, chips, losses.
Weight: 99.7 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 116.5 cm (incl. stand), 94 cm (excl. stand)
In Indian art, a surasundari (lit. 'beautiful goddess') is a young maiden characterizing feminine beauty and graceful sensuality. Buddhist and Jain shrines have featured sensual figures in form of yakshis and other spirits since the 2nd century BC. However, the surasundari motif gained prominence in Indian temple architecture only around the beginning of the 9th century AD. Shilpa-Prakasha, a 9th-century Tantric architectural treatise, declares a monument without a surasundari as inferior and fruitless. The 15th century text Kshirarnava states that the surasundaris should be depicted looking down (adho-drishti), not looking at someone. In temple sculptures, the surasundaris are often depicted as attendants of gods and goddesses. They also manifest as dancing apsaras. A salabhanjika or tree nymph is another variation of a surasundari.
Mounted on a metal stand. (2)
Literature comparison:
Compare a related marble figure of a surasundari, 78.1 cm high, dated to the 11th century, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 69.247.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Bonhams New York, 17 March 2014, lot 78
Price: USD 87,500 or approx. EUR 109,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A red sandstone figure of a celestial woman (Surasundari), Rajasthan or Central India, circa 11th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject, modeling, and manner of carving. Note the different size (43.2 cm).
Rajasthan or Central India. Finely carved, standing in a dynamic pose with her right arm raised as her body twists in a dancing motion, next to an ornate column exquisitely detailed with small figures and beasts as well as decorative elements such as beads and petals. She is richly adorned with elaborate jewelry around her neck and waist, and a small long-tailed bird rests on her lowered right arm as she feeds it, with her thumb and finger pressed together near the beak. Her face with downcast almond-shaped eyes and full lips forming a beguiling smile, the hair neatly incised.
Provenance: Austrian private collection.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear, signs of weathering and erosion, nicks, chips, losses.
Weight: 99.7 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 116.5 cm (incl. stand), 94 cm (excl. stand)
In Indian art, a surasundari (lit. 'beautiful goddess') is a young maiden characterizing feminine beauty and graceful sensuality. Buddhist and Jain shrines have featured sensual figures in form of yakshis and other spirits since the 2nd century BC. However, the surasundari motif gained prominence in Indian temple architecture only around the beginning of the 9th century AD. Shilpa-Prakasha, a 9th-century Tantric architectural treatise, declares a monument without a surasundari as inferior and fruitless. The 15th century text Kshirarnava states that the surasundaris should be depicted looking down (adho-drishti), not looking at someone. In temple sculptures, the surasundaris are often depicted as attendants of gods and goddesses. They also manifest as dancing apsaras. A salabhanjika or tree nymph is another variation of a surasundari.
Mounted on a metal stand. (2)
Literature comparison:
Compare a related marble figure of a surasundari, 78.1 cm high, dated to the 11th century, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 69.247.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Bonhams New York, 17 March 2014, lot 78
Price: USD 87,500 or approx. EUR 109,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A red sandstone figure of a celestial woman (Surasundari), Rajasthan or Central India, circa 11th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject, modeling, and manner of carving. Note the different size (43.2 cm).
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