A LARGE AND IMPORTANT BRONZE FIGURE OF SADASHIVA, ANGKOR PERIOD, BAYON STYLE
Khmer Empire, 12th-13th century. Standing on a small square plinth in sampada with his arms radiating around him, the five-headed deity clad in a short sampot with fishtail pleat and jeweled sash, incised finely with foliate decorations. His hands depicted holding his attributes. The body finely ornamented in jewelry, including a collar necklace, bracelets, armbands, earrings, and an ornate diadem. The five faces finely cast with almond-shaped eyes, aquiline nose, an urna, full lips and ears with pendulous earrings.


Provenance
: Old Spanish private collection, acquired in the 1960s. Old French private collection, acquired from the above in 1998. Jacques Barrère, Paris, France, acquired from the above. A copy of a signed expertise from Jacques Barrère Art D’Extrême Orient, dated 30 September 2005, confirming the dating and provenance above, accompanies this lot. The Jacques Barrère Gallery is located in the heart of Paris, in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés district. Since 1969, it has held exhibitions to promote and preserve Far-Eastern art. The gallery specializes in Chinese sculpture, archaeology, ceramics and decorative arts, as well as Japanese works of art and porcelain. Statuary art from Gandhara, India or South-East Asia is also regularly displayed. Objects once owned by Barrère are now in major museums around the world, including the Guimet, the Cernuschi, and the Shanghai Museum. The Barrère gallery is a regular exhibitor at TEFAF in Maastricht.

Condition
: Good condition commensurate with age. As expected, there is extensive wear, some casting flaws, losses, signs of weathering and erosion, few nicks and shallow surface scratches, fatigue cracks with associate losses and old fills, all as expected from a Khmer bronze of nearly 1,000 years of age. Superb, naturally grown, rich patina with extensive malachite encrustation and faint hues of cuprite.

Weight: 3,077 g cm (excl. stand), 3,372 g (including base)
Dimensions: Height 40.6 cm (excl. stand), 46 cm (including base)

With a modern wood base. (2)


Five-headed images of Shiva
appear in Khmer Art from the tenth century onwards. This Bayon period bronze of the late twelfth to early thirteenth centuries represents the god in his form as either Sadashiva or Mahesha. Indian texts state that the highest principle of Shiva is transcendent and without form. Sadashiva is considered to represent the god as he begins to assume form in the material world. When fully manifested in the physical world, Shiva is considered as Mahesha. These two forms are characterized by five heads arranged in two tiers, four facing the cardinal directions and the fifth on top, and ten arms each holding an attribute. The primary face is marked with Shiva’s characteristic third eye.


The five faces
are believed to represent earth, water, fire, wind, and sky, or - alternatively - violence (south face), maternity (north face), joy (west face), union (east face), and benevolence (face on top of the head). Sadashiva, a name particularly given to the five-faced and ten-armed Shiva, also directly refers to the benevolence on top of the head. It was introduced from India to the Khmer kingdom in the ninth century during the reign of Jayavarman II.


Shaivism was the most prevalent sect of Hinduism
and was sponsored by numerous Angkorian kings over the centuries. A well-developed sculptural tradition based around this sect consequently arose and Shiva was depicted in many forms, varying from the aniconic linga to large scale images in the round. Five-headed images of Shiva such as this example were executed in both stone and bronze and represent one of the more unique depictions of the deity.


Literature comparison:

Compare a bronze figure of Sadashiva in Angkor et dix siècles d'art Khmer, Exhibition Catalogue, Paris: Reunion des Musées Nationaux, 1997, pl.111. Compare a closely related Khmer Bayon-style bronze of Shiva as Sadashiva or Mahesha, 28 cm high, dated to the late 12th-early 13th century, in the Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore, accession number 2015-00374. Also compare a closely related Khmer period bronze of Standing Shiva, dated to the 12th century, in the collection of Miho Museum, Japan. Also compare a closely related Khmer bronze of Sadashiva, dated to circa 12th-13th century, in the Champasak Provincial Museum, Pakse, Laos. Also compare with another Sadashiva idol on display at Bangkok National Museum. And also compare with another figure bronze figure of Shiva with five arms and heads, 35 cm high, in the Musee National de Phnom Penh.


Auction result comparison:

Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie's New York, 20 September 2000, lot 157
Price: USD 138,000 or approx.
EUR 225,000
converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An Important Bronze Figure of Avalokiteshvara, Khmer, Koh Ker Style, 10th Century
Expert remark: Note the similar size (44 cm). Bronze figures from the Khmer empire with a size exceeding 40 cm are extremely rare, which is why this comparison was chosen, although this statue is from Koh Ker and dates to the 10th century.