A SANDSTONE TORSO OF A FEMALE DEITY, BAPHUON STYLE, SECOND HALF OF THE 11TH CENTURY

Khmer Empire. Exquisitely carved, this statue stands in samabhanga, featuring a sensuously modeled figure dressed in a long, striated sampot tied at the front, the long central fold elegantly culminating in a fishtail hem, held together at the hips with a patterned belt fastened in a stylized knot.

Provenance: Christie’s New York, 17 September 1998, lot 185, estimate USD 30,000 or approx. EUR 52,000 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing). Raymond Handley, Los Altos Hills, California, purchased from the above in an after-sale transaction, and thence by descent to his wife Marsha Vargas Handley. A copy of the invoice from Christie’s New York, addressed to Raymond Handley, dated 25 September 1998, and stating a purchase price for the present lot of USD 18,400 or approx. EUR 32,000 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing), accompanies this lot. 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: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Wear, obvious losses, natural imperfections including fissures, scattered nicks and scratches, small chips, and signs of weathering and erosion, minor repairs to the legs, old fills.

Weight: 13,319 g (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 54 cm (excl. stand), 59 cm (incl. stand)

Mounted on an associated modern stand. (2)

This piece exemplifies the style of Baphuon female figures with the frontal stance, the ovoid skirt wide at the hips and narrowing around the knees, the sarong in an elevated position at the back and curving down to below the navel and the elegant central pleat. According to Boisselier the highly decorative style of Banteay Srei inspired the development of Baphuon period sculpture, a manner which became more embellished with decorative elements as it reached a zenith during the Angkor Wat period a century later, see Helen Ibbitson Jessup and Thierry Zephir, editors, Sculpture of Angkor and Ancient Cambodia - Millennium of Glory, Washington 1997, page 255.

The modeling of the torso, the curled end of the sarong above the belt and a long central fold recalls Banteay Srei sculpture, see Emma C. Bunker and Douglas Latchford, Adoration and Glory, The Golden Age of Khmer Art, Chicago, 2004, page 175, fig. 8.6.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s Amsterdam, 18 April 2005, lot 134
Price: EUR 48,000 or approx. EUR 75,500 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A fine Khmer, Baphuon style, sandstone female torso
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of carving with the sampot tied at the waist with a similar fishtail shape. Note the similar size (56 cm).

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 19 March 2008, lot 242
Price: USD 361,000 or approx. EUR 480,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: Torso of Female Deity Sandstone Khmer, Angkor Period, Baphuon style
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of carving with the sampot tied at the waist with a similar fishtail shape. Note the size (67.3 cm).