AN EXPRESSIVE SANDSTONE FIGURE OF A RAKSHASA, ANGKOR PERIOD, KOH KER STYLE Khmer Empire, 10^th century. Well carved, wearing a short sampot tied at the waist, the square face with almond shaped eyes above a wide nose and full lips, the hair in tight curls falling elegantly over the back, flanked by pendulous earlobes.

Provenance: From an old Austrian private collection.
Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear, signs of weathering and erosion, soil encrustations, losses, structural cracks, few nicks and surface scratches.

Weight: 19 kg
Dimensions: Height 46.5 cm (excl. base) and 52 cm (incl. base)

The Rakshasas are a group of usually malevolent demigods prominently featured in Hindu mythology. According to the Brahmanda Purana, they were created by Brahma to protect the waters of creation after he assumed a body of darkness (tamas). They are often depicted as embodiments of the powers of evil in the Vedic scriptures, and as antagonists in Hindu scriptures, as well as in Buddhism and Jainism. The term Rakshasa is also sometimes used to describe asuras, a class of power-seeking beings that oppose the benevolent devas.

Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related Koh Ker sandstone figure of a Rakshasa, 69.8 cm high, in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, accession number 1967.146.