登录
East Java. Comprising a finely cast bronze figure of the deified Queen Tribhuwana in the guise of Parvati, standing erect upon a small pedestal, the principal hands held before the abdomen supporting a ritual vessel, while the secondary hands clutch a mala and conch. She is clad in a long, finely pleated dhoti secured at the waist by an elaborate jeweled girdle, and richly adorned with necklaces, armlets, bracelets, and further beaded ornaments. The serene face is marked by downcast eyes beneath gently arched brows, a slender nose, and full lips forming a subtle smile. Her hair is gathered beneath a tall mukuta composed of stacked tiers, all framed by an oval nimbus.
The lot further comprises a large bowl, a chain, a bell, a large bracelet, three pairs of dowry bracelets decreasing in size, numerous strings of coins (seket), and two fragments of a ritual vessel. (24)
Provenance: Collection of Paolo Bertuzzi, Italy, acquired on the Bangkok art market and thence by descent in the same family. Photographs taken immediately after Paolo Bertuzzi acquired the present lot show the individual objects contained within the bowl and still embedded in compacted soil and earthen encrustations. These deposits were subsequently removed and not preserved, but remnants of them are still present on several of the pieces. Copies of the original photographs accompany the lot. Paolo Bertuzzi (1943-2022) was a fashion stylist from Bologna, Italy. 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: Condition commensurate with age. Extensive wear, casting irregularities, signs of prolonged burial, corrosion, encrustations, losses. All with a rich, naturally grown patina with thick malachite and cuprite encrustations.
Weight: 1,723 g (the figure), 8.3 kg (total)
Dimensions: Height 31.5 cm (the figure), Diameter 35 cm (the bowl)
Expert’s note:
The bronze figure contained within this lot depicts Tribhuwana as the goddess Parvati, a fascinating subject also seen in a stone statue originating from Rimbi temple, East Java, circa 14th century, and now in the collection of National Museum of Indonesia, Jakarta (fig. 1).
Tribhuwana Wijayatunggadewi was the third ruler of the Majapahit Empire, reigning from 1328 to 1350. A daughter of the dynasty’s founder, Kertarajasa Jayawardhana, she came to the throne after the death of her half-brother Jayanegara and presided over an important period of military and territorial expansion. During her reign, Majapahit suppressed several internal rebellions and extended its influence across Java and into neighboring territories. Most significantly, Tribhuwana appointed the celebrated Gajah Mada as mahapatih, or prime minister, in 1334. Under her patronage, he proclaimed the famous Palapa Oath, pledging to bring the islands of the archipelago under Majapahit authority. Tribhuwana abdicated in 1350 in favor of her son, Hayam Wuruk, whose reign marked the empire’s political and cultural apogee. In the deified royal tradition of East Java, Tribhuwana was posthumously associated with the Hindu goddess Parvati.
During the Majapahit period, a time marked by flourishing trade, cultural syncretism, and artistic innovation, sculptors elevated the visual representation of female deities to align with the grandeur of the royal court. Elaborate headdresses, intricately carved jewelry, and garments with flowing, textured patterns were crafted to emulate the attire of royalty. This artistic approach symbolized the interconnectedness of divine authority and earthly sovereignty, reinforcing the sacred nature of kingship within the Hindu-Buddhist framework of the Majapahit Empire.
The refined courtly idiom of the Majapahit Kingdom drew on a much older network of artistic exchange across the Indian Ocean and maritime Southeast Asia. South Indian traditions contributed models of elegant bodily proportion, elaborate jewelry, and richly ornamented divine imagery—see a related Chola bronze figure of Vishnu dated to the 10th century at Bonhams Paris, 12 June 2023, lot 56 (fig. 2), sold for EUR 63,900, while earlier Central and East Javanese sculpture of the 8th and 9th centuries provided an indigenous foundation for the poised, hieratic treatment of sacred figures, see an 8th/9th-century Javanese bronze figure of Shiva at Bonhams Hong Kong, 29 March 2018, lot 9 (fig. 3). Sri Lankan influence, transmitted through religious and mercantile contacts, likewise informed aspects of bronze casting and Buddhist iconography, see an Anuradhapura-period bronze figure of Brahma standing on a turtle in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 2003.548.2 (fig. 4), while the artistic cultures of Srivijaya and southern Thailand formed important intermediary spheres linking Java with the wider Bay of Bengal.
Literature comparison:
Compare a related cattle bell, East Java, dated to the 15th century, 16 cm high, in the Victoria & Albert Museum, accession number IS.4:1-1994. Compare a closely related bronze figure of Dewi Sri, Majapahit, Eastern Java, dated to the 14th century, 20 cm high, exhibited by Pierre Loos at Brussels Non European Art Fair (Bruneaf), 15-19 June 2022.
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