A GLAZED POTTERY TILE DEPICTING THE TWO DAUGHTERS OF MARA, PEGU KINGDOM, 15TH-16TH CENTURY
Burma. Of rectangular form, finely modeled in high relief with two female figures, each posed with the right hands over the waist and the left stretched out to the side, wearing long robes with fishtail hems, fine jewelry, and an ornate headdress. The figures are covered in a deep green glaze.


Provenance:
From a private Slovakian collection.

Condition:
Good condition, commensurate with age, with expected wear, heavy soil encrustations typical of prolonged burial, glaze flaking, chips, and losses. Some firing irregularities, firing cracks, glaze recesses, pitting, and dark spots. Possibly minor repairs.

Scientific Analysis Report:
A thermoluminescence analysis report issued by Oxford Authentication on 2 March 2018, based on sample number N118b64, sets the firing date of two samples taken at between 300 and 500 years ago. A copy of the report accompanies this lot.

Weight: 12.7 kg
Dimensions: Size 48.2 x 32.1 cm


The pious king Dhammaceti
(1472-1492) of Pegu built a series of temples to honor the life of the Buddha. The most distinguished was the temple complex of Shwegugyi, built in 1476. It was decorated with an extensive series of large-scale glazed tiles, many of which illustrated the demonic warriors of Mara's army, who were sent to disrupt the Buddha's meditation immediately prior to his Enlightenment.
This tile, depicting two female attendants, is typical of this series.


The practice of decorating pagodas
with glazed terracotta plaques modelled in relief with Jataka scenes probably began in Burma in the Mon capital of Thahton. It was brought to Pagan by the Burmese king Anirhuddha about the middle of the 11th century, and their use there, as in Pegu in the later 15th century, was probably as much educational as decorative.


Literature comparison:

Compare a related Pegu tile depicting the daughters of Mara, 35 x 43.5 cm, dated to the 15th century, from the Shwegugyi Pagoda, in the Victoria & Albert Museum, accession number 173-1875. Compare a related Pegu ceramic plaque depicting two demons, 39 x 49 cm, dated c. 1479, in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford University, accession number EA1966.225.


Auction result comparison:

Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 24 March 2011, lot 39
Price: USD 50,000 or approx.
EUR 61,500
converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: Two Pegu tiles glazed pottery, Burma
Expert remark: Note this lot is comprised of pair. Note the smaller size (43.2 cm high).