A VOLCANIC STONE FIGURE OF BUDDHA, CENTRAL JAVA, INDONESIA, FIRST HALF OF THE 9TH CENTURY
The boldly carved andesite statue depicts Buddha seated in vajrasana on a double lotus throne. His face is serene with a broad nose, heavy-lidded eyes, and full lips forming a gentle smile. His hair is carved with snail-shell curls and is surmounted by a pointed ushnisha. Overall, this is a quite spectacular example of the most ancient Buddhist art found in Indonesia.


Provenance:
Collection of Moreno Maria Majandi, by the late 1980s. Collection of Paolo Bertuzzi, acquired from the above, circa 2000. Paolo Bertuzzi (1943-2022) was a fashion stylist from Bologna, Italy. He was the son of Enrichetta Bertuzzi, founder of Hettabretz, a noted Italian fashion company with customers such as the Rothschild family, Audrey Hepburn, and Elizabeth Taylor. Paolo Bertuzzi later took over his mother’s business and designed exclusive pieces, some of which were exhibited in the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum in New York, USA. He was also an avid collector of antiques for more than 60 years. His collection includes both archaic and contemporary art, and he edited two important books about Asian art, Goa Made - An Archaeological Discovery, about a large-scale archaeological project carried out with the Italian and Indonesian governments, and Majapahit, Masterpieces from a Forgotten Kingdom.

Condition:
Condition commensurate with age. Extensive ancient wear, weathering, erosion, losses, the stone split in half at the base, remnants of moss and soil encrustations. It has become exceedingly rare to find ancient Buddhist statues in a 100% original and ‘as excavated’ condition, such as the present lot.

Dimensions: Height 86.5 cm


Literature comparison:

Compare a related andesite seated figure of the Buddha, 71.4 cm high, dated to the 9th century, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 1982.220.4. Compare a related seated Buddha Amitabha, 80 cm high, dated to the 9th century, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 1995.256.


Auction result comparison:

Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s Paris, 11 December 2013, lot 357
Price: EUR 85,500 or approx.
EUR 102,000
adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare and important volcanic stone figure of Amoghasiddhi Buddha, Indonesia, Central Java, circa 9th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related pose, manner of carving, and losses. Note the larger size (107 cm).