 BRONZE KETTLE DRUM Current and Past Exhibitions
No. 1.BRONZE KETTLE DRUM.NORTHERN VIETNAM.DONG SON CULTURE.3RD CENTURY BC – 1ST CENTURY AD.H. 65 CMS, 25 ½ INS.D. (AT SHOULDER) 86 CMS, 34 INS.D. (Tympanum) 78 CMS, 30 ¾ INS. A large and exceptionally rare bronze kettle-drum, cast by the lost-wax method, with a deep green patina, the shoulder and main body with a series of vertical and horizontal bands of dash lines, saw-teeth and linked circles, decorated with fish, birds and scenes of feather men in boats and wielding spears and shields; the tympanum with similar geometric bands surrounding a twelve-point star and interspersed with multiple aquatic birds, round and flat roofed houses, pairs of standing figures pounding rice, platforms containing drummers beating time with sticks and parading musicians, the sides with two pairs of double ‘rope’ handles. This spectacular drum is a veritable tour de force of bronze casting. Among its many remarkable features is the presence of drummers beating kettle drums with long poles, an important clue to the function of these objects and to the method by which they were played. Dong Son drums, also known as Heger Type I drums, are mainly attributed to the Dong Son culture, centred on the Red River Delta of northern Vietnam. They were produced from around 600 BC until the third century AD and have been found across a vast area of Southeast Asia from Vietnam and Southern China to eastern Indonesia. There has been much speculation as to whether the drums were made for religious ceremonies such as harvest rituals or burials, served to rally men for war, or if they had a more secular role. In folk lore they are known as ‘rain drums’ and played to summon rain or to placate storms.One of the most celebrated examples of Dong Son drums is named Hoàng Ha (after the village in which it was discovered) and closely resembles this example – see p. 121 in Ha Thuc Can, The Bronze Dong Son Drums, Singapore and Hong Kong, 1989. This drum is also illustrated as plate 11.20b in A. J. Bernet Kempers, The Kettledrums of Southeast Asia: A Bronze Age World and Its Aftermath, Rotterdam and Brookfield: A.A. Balkema, 1988 and on pp. 6-7 in Pham Huy Thong et al, Dong Son Drums in Vietnam, Social Science Publishing House, 1990.
|  BRONZE HANGING LAMP Current and Past Exhibitions
No. 2.BRONZE HANGING LAMP.NORTHERN VIETNAM.DONG SON CULTURE.1ST - 2ND CENTURY AD.H. 21.5 CMS, 8 ½ INS .L. 25.5 CMS, 10 INS.An exceptionally rare and important bronze lamp comprising a semi-naked human figure with arms outstretched and holding a straight sided bowl (the receptacle for the oil and wick), suspended by three chains from a domed cover surmounted by a phoenix, all supported by a single chain ending in an S shaped suspension hook.For more on the Dong Son culture see cat. no. 1.The two front chains that support this lamp are shorter than the rear one and, when suspended, the figure inclines downwards. This detail, together with the movement of the legs, suggests that the figure is depicted flying down from the after-world to rescue the human soul. Examples of such lamps are few and far between – two of the best-known are the celebrated kneeling lamp-bearer of Lach Truong (see no. 4, Page 18 in Phan Cam Thuong, Ancient Sculpture of Vietnam, Fine Arts Publishing House, 1997) and a strikingly similar, Han dynasty example found in Changsha, Hunan, China (see fig. 98 in Jonathan Tucker, The Silk Road: Art and History, London: Philip Wilson Publishers, 2003). A third lamp was previously offered for sale at Spink and Son Ltd and is now in a private collection - see fig. 99 in Jonathan Tucker, ibid. This lamp is also illustrated as fig. 2 in Pratapaditya Pal, Asian Art at the Norton Simon Museum, Volume 3: Art from Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, 2004. The similarities between these lamps suggest that during the Chinese occupation of the area the process of cultural exchange was both continuous and widespread. PROVENANCE: Private English collection.
|  BUDDHA TORSO Current and Past Exhibitions
N0. 5.BUDDHA TORSO.NORTHERN INDIA.UTTAR PRADESH, SARNATH AREA.GUPTA PERIOD, CIRCA 5TH CENTURY.H. 140 CMS, 55 INS.A magnificent, life-size pale beige sandstone torso of Buddha, perfectly proportioned and standing in slight tribhanga with his left knee slightly forward, wearing a full-length sanghati clinging to the contours of his body, the right shoulder exposed, with a slightly swelling abdomen, the remains of the right arm apparently raised to form abhayamudra and the left lowered to hold the hem of his robe. This sculpture was probably once part of a relief. In his 1927 work History of Indian and Indonesian Art A.K. Coomaraswamy writes that Gupta art ‘establishes the classical phase of Indian art, at once serene and energetic, spiritual and voluptuous’. The Gupta style is elevated to a level of perfection at Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh; the site of the Buddha’s First Sermon. The characteristics of the Sarnath School of sculpture include the wearing of a diaphanous robe which accentuates the contours of the body, a softly swelling chest and abdomen and elongated lower limbs. The small number of figures that survive are typically carved in pale beige Chunar sandstone.For two, more complete examples in the Indian Museum, Calcutta see cat. nos. 203 and 205 in Klimburg-Salter, D. Buddha in Indien: Die frühindische Skulptur von König A??oka bis zur Guptazeit, Exhibition Catalogue, Milan and Vienna: Skira editore and Kunsthistorisches Museum, 1995 – no. 205 has the same sweep of the body. The Cleveland Museum of art has a fine torso of similar date and style – see fig. 72 in R. Craven, Indian Art: A Concise History,London: Thames and Hudson, 1976. The Musée Guimet, Paris has another example – see cat. no. 31 in Amina Okoda, Sculptures Indiennes du Musée Guimet, Paris: Éditions de la Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 2000.PROVENANCE: Private English collection.
|  STELE DEPICTING A SEATED BUDDHA Current and Past Exhibitions
No. 6.NORTHERN INDIA.UTTAR PRADESH.FROM THE VICINTY OF KAUSHAMBI.POST-GUPTA PERIOD.CIRCA 8TH CENTURYH. 77 CMS, 30 ¼ INS.W. 40 CMS, 15 ¾ INS.An important buff sandstone stele depicting the Buddha seated on a raised throne decorated with a vajra, his right hand lowered in bhumisparsimudra and the left holding a fold of his robe, the throne with a pair of praying female acolytes to the sides and two lions flanking an apsara with hand raised to make an offering; the periphery of the stele with leogryphs, makaras and surmounted by a pair of seated bodhisattvas, garland bearers, two further praying acolytes and a further Buddha reposed in parinirvana. Kaushambi was one of the six most prosperous Indian cities in the Buddha's period and was visited by him in the 6th and9th years after having attained enlightenment. During bothvisits he delivered sermons, thereby making it a centre oflearning for Buddhists.There are few examples of Buddhas from this area and period. In some instances, contemporary sculptures of Jaintirthankaras have been modified to be Buddhas by removing the auspicious srivasta mark on the chest but there is noevidence that this has been done here.There is also no sign that the parinirvana Buddha at the apex has been adapted from the parasol often found adorning Jain figures. For two related, though slightly later images of Jain tirthankaras from Uttar Pradesh with similar iconography, please see cat. no. 23 in P. Pal, Jain Art from India: The Peaceful Liberators, New York: Thames and Hudson, 1994 and pl. 132 in John Guy, Indian Temple sculpture, London: V&A Publications, 2007.The Khajuraho Museum has a rare, late example of a seated Buddha – see fig. 252 in M. Bussagli, 5000 Years of the Art of India, New York: Harry N. Abrams Inc., 1971.
|  BRONZE BUDDHA Current and Past Exhibitions
No. 7.BRONZE BUDDHA. THAILAND.MON-DVARAVATI STYLE.8TH - 9TH CENTURY.H. 35 CMS, 13 ¾ INS.A large and important bronze figure of a standing Buddha, both hands forming vitarka (teaching)-mudra, the robe covering both shoulders and falling from the wrist to follow the contours of the body down to a typical U-shaped hem, the undergarments visible beneath, with long earlobes, a narrow face, downcast eyes and lips forming a slight smile, the hair arranged in tight ‘snail-shell’ curls rising to a lotus-bud usnisha.The Mon-Dvaravati kingdom, which flourished from the sixth through tenth centuries AD, was established when the Mons of Burma migrated south into Siam. They became ensconced in the river basins of Central Thailand – their main centres at Nakhon Pathom, Lopburi, U-Thong and Kubua - and ruled the area for four centuries. Mon-Dvaravati art finds its origins in the Gupta art of India; characterised by curled hair, full lips and a small waist. The Mon adaptation of the Gupta style incorporates both Hindu and (Theravada) Buddhist iconography.The great 110 cm bronze Buddha in the National Museum, Bangkok, is similar to this example - see no. 15 in R. Ringis (ed.), Treasures from the National Museum, Bangkok, Bangkok: National Museum Volunteers Group, 1987. For another example see fig. 59 (cat. no. 9) in Hiram W. Woodward, The Sacred Sculpture of Thailand. The Alexander B. Griswold Collection, Baltimore: Walters Art Gallery, 1997.Note: Authenticated by a metallographic analysis conducted by Conservation and Technical Services Ltd, London.PROVENANCE: Private English Collection. Acquired at Rama Antiques, Bangkok in the mid-1980s (export seal attached).Previously offered at Spink and Son Ltd in 1995. Published as no. 59 in Spink Catalogue, Legacies of Ancient Civilisations: A Selection of Indian and Southeast Asian Works of Art, 1996.
|  VISHNU STELE Current and Past Exhibitions
No. 8.VISHNU STELE.WESTERN INDIA, RAJASTHAN.11TH – 12TH CENTURY.H. 99 CMS, 30 INS.W. 52 CMS, 20 ½ INS.An elaborate, imposing polished black stone stele depicting a four-armed standing figure of Vishnu, holding a lotus, a conch, a disc (chakra) and a club (gada), surrounded by kneeling and standing acolytes, leogryphs and a figure on horseback, with multiple references to other vaishnaviteincarnations, including the fish (Matsya), the turtle (Kurma), the boar (Varaha), the man-lion (Narasimha)and Rama (with bow); the base with a seated figure of Lakshmi holding a pair of lotuses and flanked by attendants.Vishnu, together with Brahma and Siva, is one of the members of the Hindu trimurti (Skt. ‘Triple Form’). Vishnubecomes incarnate in different divine forms (avatars) from age to age in order to preserve the world.For a related black stone image of Vishnu from Gadwala, Rajasthan in the National Museum, New Delhi, see cat.no. 345 in Hayward Gallery, In The Image Of Man: The Indian Perception of the Universe through 2000 Years ofPainting and Sculpture, London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1982. See also, cat. no. 54 in P. Pal, Indian Sculpture:A Catalogue of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Collection, Vol. 2, Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museumof Art, 1988.
|  YAKSHA STELE Current and Past Exhibitions
No. 9.YAKSHA STELE. CENTRAL INDIA.PROBABLY MADHYA PRADESH.10TH - 11TH CENTURY.H. 92 CMS, 36 ¼ INS.A dramatic and important pink sandstone stele depicting a bejeweled Jain Yaksha seated in lalitasana with his right hand raised in vitarka (teaching) mudra, attended bydevotees including one holding an offering dish and another proffering what appears to be a bag; the apex with three celestial attendants (gandharvas), one wielding a drum and two others bearing garlands.The auspicious srivasta mark on the chest indicates that this sculpture is Jain in origin.A Yaksha (fem. Yakshi) is a nature-spirit, usually benign, who acts as a caretaker of the natural treasures concealed in the earth and in tree roots. They occur in Hindu, Jainand Buddhist mythology. For a related image, see the Yaksha couple in the Santinatha Jain Temple, Khajuraho – fig. 51 in O.C. Gangolyand A. Goswami, The Art of the Chandelas,Calcutta: Rupa & Co., 1957. For a related image of a Yakshi in the BritishMuseum, see cat. no. 72B in P. Pal, Jain Art from India: The Peaceful Liberators, New York: Thames and Hudson, 1994.
|  SANDSTONE HANUMAN TORSO Current and Past Exhibitions
No. 11.SANDSTONE HANUMAN TORSO.CENTRAL INDIA.MADHYA PRADESH.10TH – 11TH CENTURY.H. 165 CMS, 65 INS.W. 145 CMS, 57 INS.A monumental reddish sandstone torso of Hanuman,the Monkey God, sculpted in a dynamic sideways aspectwith his right arm and left leg raised and his left hand ina delicate form of vitarka (teaching) mudra; resplendentin elaborate jewellery including basubands withKirtimukha (Face-of-Glory) motifs, necklaces, bracelets and rings, a ceremonial dagger at his belt, with theremains of his tail trailing diagonally across his back.Hanuman, devotee of Lord Rama (the 7th avatar ofVishnu) is the most celebrated character in the Indianepic, The Ramayana. His most famous feat was to leadan army of monkeys in support of Rama, to fight thedemon King Ravana.This remarkable sculpture has a tremendous sense ofrestrained energy. For a closely related, 145 cm imageof Hanuman in the Gwalior Archaeological Museum,Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, see scan no. 0013767 in theHuntington Archive of Buddhist and Related art: http://huntington.wmc.ohio state.edu/ public/index.cfm?fuseaction=show ThisDetail&ObjectID=14554The Archaeological Museum, Khajuraho, has a complete, highrelief figure of Varaha in similar pose - see pp 116-7 inGrace Morley, Indian Sculpture, New Delhi: Roli Books, 2005. A second figure of Varaha in the L.A. County Museum of Art wears a similar dagger - see cat. no. 44 in P. Pal, The Sensuous Immortals: A Selection of Sculptures from thePan-Asian Collection, L.A. County Museum of Art, 1977. A related image of Bhairava from the Heeramaneck collection has similar Kirtimukha basubands – see cat. no. 43 in Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, The Arts of India and Nepal: The Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection, Boston: MFA, 1966.Note: This sculpture weighs 580 kg and is too heavy to display in our gallery. It can be viewed byarrangement in our storage facility.
|  HEAD OF BUDDHA Current and Past Exhibitions
No. 13.BURMA.PAGAN PERIOD.12 - 13TH CENTURY.H. 12.5 CMS, 5 INS.A captivating pale sandstone Buddha head with a calm expression and half-open eyes cast downwards in meditation, with flaring eyebrows framing a small urna and a smooth tapering usnisha.A Tibetan-Burman race known as the Mranma established their capital at Pagan, on the left bank of the Irrawaddy in Burma’s dry zone. The founder of the Pagan dynasty, Anawrahta (r. 1044-1077), launched a series of military campaigns against Arakan in the west, the Shan in the east and the Mon kingdom to the south, thereby uniting Burma for the first time in its history. Anawrahta and his successors embraced the Theravada Buddhism of Sri Lanka and built approximately two thousand temples, stupas, monasteries, libraries and ordination halls - the largest concentration of monuments in the entire Buddhist world.The city fell to the Mongols in 1287 and political powerbecame dispersed among the Mon, Shan, Burmeseand Arakanese.The Payathonzu temple, Pagan (meaning "three pagodas") isa complex of three interconnected shrines built in the middle part of the 13th century, shortly before the Mongol invasions. For a seated Buddha from the Payathonzu temple, dated circa 1260 and closely related to this head, see p. 267 in D. Stadtner, Ancient Pagan: Buddhist Plain of Merit. Bankgok: River Books, 2005. For a second image, in the Pagan Museum, see fig. 279 in in M. Girard-Geslan et al, Art of Southeast Asia,New York: Harry N. Abrams Inc, 1998.PROVENANCE: Private English collection.
|  WOODEN TEMPLE STRUT ( TUNALA) Current and Past Exhibitions
No. 15.WOODEN TEMPLE STRUT (TUNALA).NEPAL. KATHMANDU VALLEY.EARLY MALLA PERIOD.13TH - 14TH CENTURY.H. 95 CMS, 37 ½ INS.W. 16.5 CMS, 6 ½ INS.A sensuous, exquisitely carved wooden temple strut (tunala) depicting a celestial female (devata)with long flowing hair and wearing extensive jewellery, dancing beneath a flowering tree on top of a hermit sage who sits clutching his beard.The Newar ethnic group of Nepal was responsible for many of the greatest masterpieces of Buddhist and Hindu art. The Malla Period (1200–1768), and in particular the Early Malla period of the 13th to 15th centuries, is regarded as the Newari ‘Golden Age’. During the Early Malla period a thriving trade with Tibet led to the establishment of a wealthy merchant class which became a major source ofpatronage for religious establishments. The wooden temples of the Kathmandu valley have roofs supported by cantilevered struts, typically carved with figures of beautiful celestial maidens standing on the backs of male dwarf figures.Female figures of this type are reminiscent of yakshis (nature spirits), the posture of this example recalling the Salabhanjika (‘tree fertilising’) pose found in ancient Indian sculpture. The devata grasps a branch, forcing nature to wake from dormancy and causing the tree to bloom.The Metropolitan Museum, New York city, has a closely related example - see the following link: http://tinyurl.com/ycg7jmjFor another example of similar date in the ArtGallery of New South Wales, see page 87 inOrientations, Sept. 2000.
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AN IMPORTANT GROUP OF SCULPTURES FROM SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST ASIA.