A LARGE AND MAGNIFICENT SANDSTONE FIGURE OF BRAHMA, BAKHENG STYLE, ANGKOR PERIOD, 10TH CENTURY

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A LARGE AND MAGNIFICENT SANDSTONE FIGURE OF BRAHMA, BAKHENG STYLE, ANGKOR PERIOD, 10TH CENTURY This lot is from a single owner collection and is therefore offered without reserve The Jorgen Ruben Gallery Ledger, entry from 2005: “No. 566, LA, A. Maynard 1972, Khmer Bakheng four-headed Brahma, 10th c., ca 104 cm h.” Gallery price: EUR 290,000 or approx. EUR 484,000 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing. The ledger establishes that this object was located in Europe before the UNESCO 1970 Convention entered into force. Khmer Empire. Superbly carved, the four-headed, four-armed deity shown standing in samabhanga, wearing a pleated sampot falling to the knees and secured at the waist with a sash featuring distinctive double-anchor folds. The finely modeled faces each displaying a serene expression defined by almond-shaped eyes beneath ridged brows, a broad nose, and full lips set in a calm smile with a subtle moustache, each with rope-like hair piled up into a jatamukuta secured by a string of beads behind a floral diadem. Important Note: For essential information on the Jorgen Ruben Gallery Ledger and provenance documentation please visit here: www.zacke.at/rubencollection_ledger Dimensions: Height 106.2 cm (excl. stand), 123.5 cm (incl. stand) With an associated metal stand. (2) This representation of Brahma, the Brahmanical God of creation and progenitor of all universes, is conceived as omnipresent. He is therefore depicted with four faces and four arms, in accordance with Indian tradition, symbolizing his universal scope, while each of his four mouths is said to have revealed one of the sacred Vedic texts. In Khmer art, the Hindu god Brahma is rarely represented in freestanding form, as in the present example. Nevertheless, his sampot already anticipates the Pre Rup style, which may be understood as the definitive stylistic successor to the widely favored Bakheng style, emerging in the early tenth century and named after sculptures associated with the Bakheng temple. The garment is knee-length, drawn up between the legs and secured at the back, and features a pleated ‘double-anchor’, or ‘fishtail’, pendants at the front, particularly distinctive for the period and stylistic context. This sculpture would likely have occupied a subsidiary shrine within a temple complex dedicated primarily to Shiva. Literature comparison: Compare a closely related sandstone figure of Brahma, Cambodia, dated first quarter of the 10th century, 120.7 cm high, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 36.96.3. Auction result comparison: Type: Closely related Auction: Christie’s Paris, 13 December 2016, lot 21 Price: EUR 37,500 or approx. EUR 49,500 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of carving, stone, and subject. Note the similar size (96.5 cm).

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