登录
Sumatra (present-day Indonesia). Heavily cast, standing in samabhanga, with his right hand lowered in varada mudra and his left grasping the supple stem of a lotus blossom, in accordance with his epithet Padmapani, clad in a diaphanous sanghati gracefully knotted at the waist. The gently rounded face with a serene expression, distinguished by heavy-lidded eyes beneath softly arched brows, a broad nose, and full lips forming a tranquil smile, all framed by elongated earlobes. The hair arranged in a distinctive jatamukuta, with strands cascading over the shoulders in the characteristic Srivijaya style, and adorned with large floral motifs and a slightly worn image of the Buddha Amitabha. The reverse retains the remains of a tenon, once intended to secure a now-lost aureole. The bronze surface with a rich, naturally developed patina with malachite encrustations.
Provenance: Collection of Tijl de Bakker, Antwerp, Belgium. La Balaustra Antichità, Arte Archeologia classica orientale e precolombiana, 1998, Bologna, Italy. Collection of Paolo Bertuzzi (1943-2022), acquired from the above. A copy of a stamped certificate written by Giuliana Zanetti of Antichità La Balaustra, adressed to Paolo Bertuzzi, dated 8 May 1998, dating the present lot to the 7th-8th centuries and confirming the provenance above, accompanies this lot. Paolo Bertuzzi (1943-2022) was a fashion stylist from Bologna. He was the son of Enrichetta Bertuzzi, founder of Hettabretz, a noted Italian fashion company with customers such as the Rothschild family, Audrey Hepburn, and Elizabeth Taylor. Paolo Bertuzzi later took over his mother’s business and designed exclusive pieces, some of which were exhibited in the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, USA. He was also an avid collector of antiques for more than sixty years. His collection includes both archaic and contemporary art, and he edited two important books about Asian art, Goa Made - An Archaeological Discovery, about a large-scale archaeological project carried out with the Italian and Indonesian governments, and Majapahit, Masterpieces from a Forgotten Kingdom.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age, with ancient wear, casting irregularities, and expected traces of weathering and erosion. The bronze with an attractive, naturally developed patina with vibrant malachite and soil encrustations, as a result of a prolonged period of burial.
Weight: 2,324 g
Dimensions: Height 31.4 cm
Srivijaya was a Buddhist thalassocratic empire based on the island of Sumatra (in modern-day Indonesia), which influenced much of Southeast Asia and was an important center for the expansion of Buddhism from the 7th to the 12th century AD. It also was the first unified kingdom to dominate much of the Malay Archipelago. Due to its location, the powerful state over time developed more and more complex technology utilizing maritime resources. The rise of the Srivijayan Empire was therefore also parallel to the end of the Malay sea-faring period.
In addition to his role as an attendant to the Buddha, Avalokiteshvara became a powerful divinity of his own in Southeast Asia. Avalokiteshvara is the Bodhisattva of Compassion, and also the Protector of Mariners. While originating in India, this bodhisattva enjoyed particular popularity in areas outside of the subcontinent that were reached through maritime trade networks, such as Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia.
Literature comparison:
Compare a related bronze figure of standing Avalokiteshvara, 18.1 cm high, dated late 8th-early 9th century, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 1985.401. Compare a related bronze figure of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, Srivijaya Empire, 34 cm high, in the National Museum of Bangkok, illustrated in Theodore Bowie (ed.) et al., The Sculpture of Thailand, 1972, p. 43, no. 12. Compare a related bronze figure of a four-armed Avalokiteshvara, found in a riverbed at Palembang, Sumatra, in 1930, held by the National Museum of Jakarta, illustrated in Versunkene Konigreiche Indonesiens, R?mer- und Pelizaeus-Museum Hildesheim, 1995, no. 9.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 20 September 2006, lot 202
Price: USD 66,000 or approx. EUR 92,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare bronze figure of Avalokiteshvara, Thailand or Indonesia, Srivijaya Empire, 9th century
Expert remark: Compare the related subject, manner of casting, and decorative style. Note the larger size (44.5 cm) and the separately cast lotus plinth.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Zacke Vienna, 11 March 2022, lot 581
Price: EUR 16,432 or approx. EUR 18,000 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare bronze figure of Avalokiteshvara, Sumatra, Srivijaya Empire, 9th-11th century
Expert remark: Compare the related subject, manner of casting, and decorative style. Note the slightly larger size (33 cm).
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