登录
Superbly cast, the sacred animal seated in a recumbent pose upon a rectangular base, its weight resting on the left side. The left hind leg is folded beneath its massive body, while the bushy tail extends gracefully to the right, its tip draped over the right hind leg. A prominent hump rises behind the neck, which is adorned with a broad necklace composed of foliate and feather-like ornaments. The exquisitely modeled head is held upright with refined poise.
The almond-shaped eyes are open and alert, their gaze directed forward, while a vertically oriented third eye on the forehead evokes the association with Shiva, its divine rider. Large, funnel-shaped ears flank the head beneath the short horns, while the closed muzzle lends the animal a serene and composed expression.
The front of the bronze plinth is inscribed with a line of characters in a Mon-Burmese script of Brahmic origin.
Provenance: Galerie Peter Hardt, Radevormwald, Germany. Collection of Dr. Kai-Torsten Hohn, Dresden, Germany, acquired from the above. A copy of the invoice from Galerie Peter Hardt, dated 26 April 2014, addressed to Kai-Torsten Hohn, confirming the dating above, and stating a purchase price of EUR 26,000 (or approx. EUR 34,500 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing), accompanies the lot. Galerie Peter Hardt was founded by Peter Kienzle-Hardt (b. 1946), a now-retired German art dealer whose engagement with Asian and Himalayan art spans more than five decades and is grounded in extensive first-hand experience in the region. His career began with a formative world journey in 1973, during which he traveled widely throughout Asia, laying the foundation for a lifelong commitment to the study, acquisition, and dissemination of rare works of art and antiquities. Over the ensuing decades, he organized numerous exhibitions, participated in major international art fairs, and established a reputation as a discerning specialist, particularly in Tibetan, Himalayan, and broader Asian sculptural traditions. Much of the material he handled was acquired directly through travel and long-standing personal networks, lending his connoisseurship an experiential depth that is increasingly rare. In 2014, he established the Museum für Asiatische Kunst, conceived as a public institution presenting a comprehensive survey of Asian art, comprising works from the Kienzle Family Collection supplemented by objects from his own collection. In September 2025, Galerie Zacke held a highly successful auction of objects deaccessioned from the Museum für Asiatische Kunst, achieving a remarkable 99% sell-through rate. Dr. Kai-Torsten Hohn is a German surgeon and distinguished collector whose passion for art began in his youth, when he accompanied his parents on extensive travels to the ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean. This early exposure sparked his lifelong interest in collecting, initially focusing on ancient and Islamic art. Over the years, his travels to various Asian countries led to the formation of a significant collection centered on Buddhism and Tibet.
Condition: Excellent condition, with only minor wear, casting irregularities, and few small dents. The bronze with a fine, naturally grown, dark patina.
Weight: 18.6 kg (excl. stand), 24.9 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Length 55.4 cm (excl. stand), 61.8 cm (incl. stand)
With a fitted hardwood plinth dating from the 20th century. (2)
Each of the major Hindu deities is associated with a vahana, the bird or animal that serves as both mount and sacred companion. The present sculpture depicts Nandi, also known as Vrishabha, the bull vahana of Shiva. Worshipers entering a temple dedicated to Shiva first encounter Nandi reclining before the sanctuary, his gaze fixed devotedly upon the inner shrine where his master resides, most often in the form of a linga. Nandi is therefore far more than Shiva’s mount: he is the god’s guardian, closest attendant, and foremost worshiper, embodying perfect faith and unwavering devotion. Shiva’s association with the bull reaches back to the earliest traditions of Indian religion. From the Indus Valley Civilization onward, the bull was revered as an emblem of fertility, virility, and strength, qualities subsequently absorbed into Shaiva worship. The present bronze gives this ideal a magnificent form: its massive body conveys restrained power, while the serene expression and elaborate ceremonial ornaments proclaim Nandi’s divine status. The third eye on his forehead further links him directly to Shiva and the divine wisdom revealed through absolute devotion.
The cult of Nandi reached Burma together with the worship of Shiva, travelling from eastern India and Bengal into Arakan and across the maritime routes of the Bay of Bengal to Thaton and Lower Burma. Merchants, Brahmins, craftsmen, and courtly exchanges subsequently carried Shaiva worship into Central Burma and the royal city of Bagan. The tradition was established remarkably early. An inscription of circa 729 records that the Candra rulers of Arakan claimed descent from the lineage of Shiva, while recumbent bulls appear on their coins from the sixth to the eleventh centuries as emblems of divine authority, prosperity, and royal power. Excavations at Vesali uncovered a monumental crouching bull at the center of a ceremonial brick structure, while a ninth- or tenth-century relief from Thaton depicts Shiva and Parvati with Nandi crouching beneath the god. At Bagan, an image of Shiva associated with the Nat-hlaung-kyaung temple retains the remains of a bull at his feet. Together, these discoveries show that Nandi entered Burma not as a borrowed decorative motif but as an established image of worship.
Within predominantly Buddhist Burma, Nandi retained his sacred power by entering the country’s characteristically inclusive religious world. Shiva appeared within Buddhist temple programs at Bagan and was eventually absorbed into Burmese spirit worship as the Para-miz-wa nat. A nineteenth-century image from the royal palace at Mandalay depicts this multi-headed Burmese form of Shiva riding Nandi, now in the British Museum, registration number 1937,0112.2; it belonged to a group of deities propitiated with great ceremony during the Thadingyut festival by court Brahmins, spirit mediums, and guardians of the royal shrine. Even an ancient image of Nandisa, originally the guardian of a Shaiva shrine at Vesali, was later repainted and worshiped as a future Buddha. Monumental standalone Burmese images of Nandi are extraordinarily rare, making the present bronze an outstanding survival: an image of immense sculptural power in which monumental mass, lavish ornament, and devotional calm are held in perfect balance.
Literature comparison:
Compare a related South Indian brass figure of Nandi, preserved at the Ernakulam Shiva Temple in Kerala. Compare a related earlier sandstone carving of Nandi dated Pre-Angkor period, 7th century, 53 cm long, in the National Museum of Cambodia, accession number KA.1584, and included in the seminal exhibition Lost Kingdoms: Hindu-Buddhist Sculpture of Early Southeast Asia, 5th to 8th Century, 15 April-27 July 2014, New York, cat. no. 102.
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