A GOLD REPOUSSÉ PECTORAL PENDANT DEPICTING TWO GARUDA, VIETNAM, FORMER KINGDOMS OF CHAMPA, CIRCA 10TH CENTURY

Published:
The Zelnik Istvan Southeast Asian Gold Museum, Budapest, 2013, page 49.

The crescent-shaped pectoral is finely chased, embossed, and incised, with a band of lotus petals along the upper rim above two mirroring Garuda flanking a neatly inlaid, central chalcedony intaglio depicting a four-armed deity, all surrounded by repeating stylized sword designs.


Provenance:
Ex-Collection of The Zelnik István Southeast Asian Gold Museum. Institutional art collection in Belgium, acquired from the above. Dr. István Zelnik, President of the Hungarian South and Southeast Asian Research Institute, is a former high-ranking Hungarian diplomat who spent several decades in Southeast Asia, building the largest known private collection of Asian art in Europe.

Condition:
Very good condition, commensurate with age. Some old wear, small manufacturing irregularities, very minor old repairs, and light tarnishing, all as to be expected for a gold object more than a thousand years old.

Weight: 24.6 g
Dimensions: Length 14.9 cm


Garuda is a half-bird, half-human creature
that appears in both Hinduism and Buddhism. The mythological account of Garuda’s birth in the Mahabharata identifies him as the younger brother of Aruna, the charioteer of the sun god, Surya. Garuda’s mother, Vinata, mother of the birds, was tricked into becoming the slave of her sister and co-wife, Kadru, mother of the nagas (serpents). The lasting enmity between the birds, particularly Garuda, and the serpents, is attributed to this. The nagas agreed to release Vinata if Garuda could obtain for them a drink of the elixir of immortality, the amrita, or soma. Garuda performed that feat, thus giving the snakes the ability to slough off their old skins, and, on his way back from the heavens, Garuda met Vishnu and agreed to serve him as his vehicle and also as his emblem. Garuda is described in one text as emerald in color, with the beak of a hawk, roundish eyes, golden wings, and four arms and with a breast, knees, and legs like those of a hawk. He is also depicted anthropomorphically, with wings and hawk-like features. Sometimes Images of Garuda are used by devotees of Vishnu to designate their affiliations; such images appear on coins throughout various periods and on ritual vessels and jewelry, like this lot. Garuda, also referred to as Garula, are golden-winged birds in Buddhist texts. Under the Buddhist concept of samsara, they are one of the Aṣṭagatyaḥ, the eight classes of inhuman beings.


Auction result comparison:

Type: Related
Auction: Galerie Zacke, Vienna, 4 December 2020, lot 22
Price: EUR 13,904 or approx.
EUR 16,500
converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An extremely rare and fine Cham gemstone-set gold repoussé crown with Garudas
Expert remark: Compare the closely related material, repoussé decoration, and Garuda motif. Note the different form and the size (14.5 cm). Note this crown was also previously in The Zelnik István Southeast Asian Gold Museum.