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Lot Essay
This figure dates from the Angkor Wat period, in the twelfth century, when the Khmer Empire was at territorial zenith. This starts with the reign of Suryavarman II (r. 1113-1145), who ordered the construction of Angkor Wat, the largest temple of the Angkor period, dedicated to Vishnu. The last great king of the period, Jayavarman VII (r. 1181-1218), expanded into the territories of the Champa to the east. Jayavarman VII also adopted Mahayana Buddhism as the official state religion, replacing the cult of Vishnu which had predominated in the Khmer Empire for previous centuries.
Stylistically, the sculpture of the Angkor Wat period is marked by a return to the somewhat angular and upright modeling of the periods preceding the Baphuon style of the eleventh century. This angularity can be seen in the wide shoulders and hips of the upper torso, as well as in the drapery of the sampot, which sits roughly straight across the hips, and in the fish-tail folds which fall in heavy vertical pleats, in contrast to the earlier Baphuon period in which the drapery is full of curling flourishes. The size of sculpture from the Angkor Wat period, however, is generally in line with the more diminutive Baphuon-period works, in contrast to the monumental sculpture of the tenth century and earlier.
Many four-armed male figures from the Angkor Wat period depict the Hindu god Vishnu, unsurprisingly, given the religious beliefs of Suryavarman II. Towards the end of the twelfth century, images of Lokeshvara (Avalokiteshvara) and other Buddhist deities began to proliferate. Representations of Vishnu and Lokeshvara during this time are almost stylistically indistinguishable, save for their iconographic features. It is likely the artists of the later Angkor Wat period adopted the iconometry of Vishnu images when developing representations of Buddhist deities. See, for example, a sandstone figure of Lokeshvara from the Robert Hatfield Ellsworth Collection, sold at Christie’s, New York, 17 March 2015, lot 36. The image can only be identified by the presence of the diminutive Amitabha effigy at the front of the chignon, as the other iconographic markers which would have been held in the four arms are missing. In the present figure, there is a small triangular, shaped loss in the same place that could once have been an Amitabha image. The only remaining iconographic identifier is the object held in the proper left upper hand, although it is not entirely legible. While it could be a fragmentary representation of the conch shell, an identifier of Vishnu, the horizontal striations on either end possibly indicate it could be a sutra manuscript, which is an attribute of Lokeshvara.
Stylistically, the sculpture of the Angkor Wat period is marked by a return to the somewhat angular and upright modeling of the periods preceding the Baphuon style of the eleventh century. This angularity can be seen in the wide shoulders and hips of the upper torso, as well as in the drapery of the sampot, which sits roughly straight across the hips, and in the fish-tail folds which fall in heavy vertical pleats, in contrast to the earlier Baphuon period in which the drapery is full of curling flourishes. The size of sculpture from the Angkor Wat period, however, is generally in line with the more diminutive Baphuon-period works, in contrast to the monumental sculpture of the tenth century and earlier.
Many four-armed male figures from the Angkor Wat period depict the Hindu god Vishnu, unsurprisingly, given the religious beliefs of Suryavarman II. Towards the end of the twelfth century, images of Lokeshvara (Avalokiteshvara) and other Buddhist deities began to proliferate. Representations of Vishnu and Lokeshvara during this time are almost stylistically indistinguishable, save for their iconographic features. It is likely the artists of the later Angkor Wat period adopted the iconometry of Vishnu images when developing representations of Buddhist deities. See, for example, a sandstone figure of Lokeshvara from the Robert Hatfield Ellsworth Collection, sold at Christie’s, New York, 17 March 2015, lot 36. The image can only be identified by the presence of the diminutive Amitabha effigy at the front of the chignon, as the other iconographic markers which would have been held in the four arms are missing. In the present figure, there is a small triangular, shaped loss in the same place that could once have been an Amitabha image. The only remaining iconographic identifier is the object held in the proper left upper hand, although it is not entirely legible. While it could be a fragmentary representation of the conch shell, an identifier of Vishnu, the horizontal striations on either end possibly indicate it could be a sutra manuscript, which is an attribute of Lokeshvara.