A Khmer Carved Grey Sandstone Torso of Lokesvara, 10th-First Half 12th Century
十世紀上半葉至十二世紀 高棉石造像
10th-First Half 12th Century
The torso with softly-defined musculature, and remnants of four arms; wearing a pleated sampot with an oval-pattern-carved belt, with a wide overhanging front flap at the waist, above remnants of a double-"fishtail" pendant sash, a series of sweeping curves to one side, verso with a “butterfly” gather; later wood base.
Note:
For an example of a figure with a similar sampot with an overhanging flap and double-fishtail sash, dated tentatively to circa 978-1010, see the example in the collection of the Brooklyn Museum of Art, accession #1991.131. Compare also the figure of Shiva in the collection of the Musee Guimet, MA 3431, dated to the late 10th-early 11th century, illustrated in Helen Ibbitson Jessup et al, "Sculpture of Angkor and Ancient Cambodia, Millenium of Glory", New York, 1997, p. 239, no. 57. For a very closely related larger figure, with front overhanging flap to the sampot, double-fishtail sash, curved sweeps to one thigh, oval-patterned belt, and a similar “butterfly” knot at the back, see the figure formerly in the collection of Claude de Marteau, sold at Christie's, Paris, December 10, 2020, lot 84, where it is dated to the 12th century, Angkor Wat period.
Height of stone: 12 1/2 in., 31.8 cm.
This lot is located in Philadelphia.