A SANDSTONE HEAD OF BUDDHA, ANGKOR PERIOD, BAYON STYLE
Khmer Empire, 12th-13th century. Boldly carved, the round face with a prominent hairline and elongated earlobes with a serene expression, heavy-lidded eyes, and full bow-shaped lips. The hair neatly arranged in vertical rows with finely incised wavy lines, surmounted by a topknot tightly set in spiral braids above a ring of lappets.


Provenance:
From an English private collection.

Condition:
Good condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear, losses, signs of weathering and erosion, nicks, scratches, encrustations. An old repair to where the topknot connects with the head.

Weight: 5,181 g (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 24.5 cm (exc. stand) and 34.2 cm (incl. stand)

Mounted on an associated metal base. (2)


This head belongs stylistically to the latter part of
the reign of King Jayavarman
VII (1181-1219), a devout Buddhist who established the Bayon as his state temple in the Khmer capital of Angkor and commissioned numerous Buddhist sculptures to fill that space and others. This work is a prime example of a new style developed during his reign based on more naturalistic body and face types distinguished by faint smiles, closed eyes, and hair rendered like a tight-fitting cap with a lotus-shaped bun.


Literature comparison:

Compare a similar Khmer head of the Buddha dated 12th-13th century, 30.5 cm tall, in the Minneapolis Institute of Art, accession number 50.46.222.


Auction result comparison:

Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby’s Paris, 10 June 2021, lot 237
Price: EUR 11,340 or approx.
EUR 12,500
adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gray standstone head of a divinity Khmer, Bayon style, circa 12th century
Expert remark: Note the near-identical size (24 cm).