A SANDSTONE GUARDIAN FIGURE DEPICTING A YAKSHA, KOH KER STYLE Khmer Empire, 10^th century. Finely carved kneeling atop a square base with one knee raised, his right hand holding a vajra and his left resting on his thigh, wearing a short pleated sampot with fine incision work. The face well detailed with a wrathful expression marked by large bulging eyes with neatly incised pupils, thick brows, a mustache, a broad nose, full lips, the mouth slightly agape revealing teeth, the head surmounted by an elaborate foliate crown.

Provenance: From a distinguished Italian private collection, acquired between the late 1960s and early 1970s. Leonardo Vigorelli, Bergamo, acquired from the above. Leonardo Vigorelli is a retired Italian art dealer and noted collector, specializing in African and ancient Hindu-Buddhist art. After studying anthropology and decades of travel as well as extensive field research in India, the Himalayan region, Southeast Asia, and Africa, he founded the Dalton Somaré art gallery in Milan, Italy, which today is being run by his two sons.
Condition: Excellent condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear, small losses, minor nicks and surface scratches, signs of weathering and erosion, structural cracks, encrustations. The head has been reattached using a metal rod. Fine, natural patina overall.

Dimensions: Height 62.5

Guardian figures such as the present lot were placed aside of gateways, steps, and entrances of sacred areas like temples.

Koh Ker, which lies 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Angkor, was the capital of the Khmer Empire from 928-944. Koh Ker's sculptural style is thus distinct from those developed in Angkor's immediate vicinity. The stone sculpture, often monumental in size, is imbued with a heightened sense of movement and a suppleness of form. The Koh Ker rulers adhered to the Hindu religion, especially the Shaiva sect.

The yakshas are a broad class of nature-spirits, usually benevolent, but sometimes mischievous or capricious, connected with water, fertility, trees, the forest, treasure and wilderness. They appear in Hindu, Jain and Buddhist texts, as well as in ancient and medieval era temples of South and Southeast Asia as guardian deities. The yakshas have a dual personality: On the one hand, they may be inoffensive nature-fairies, associated with woods and mountains, but there is also a darker version of them, which is a kind of a ghost that haunts the wilderness and devours travelers. Kubera, the god of wealth and prosperity, is considered the king of the yakshas.

Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related Koh Ker sandstone head of a Yaksha, 40.5 cm high, in the collection of the National Museum of Cambodia, inventory number Ka.1666.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie's Paris, 14 December 2016, lot 17
Price: EUR 80,500 or approx. EUR 94,000 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An important sandstone figure of a half-male half-female deity, Cambodia, Khmer, Koh Ker period, 10^th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related pose, pleated sampot, and crown. Note that the sculpture depicts a rare and unidentified androgynous deity and is of larger size (93 cm).