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Exhibited: The Collector’s Cycle: Explore. Study. Find. Repeat. Works from the Enrico Bertuzzi Collection, curated by Marco Fossati, ART CITY Bologna 2026, 6–8 February 2026, held at WP Store, Bologna.
Expert’s note: The Mataram, or Medang, Kingdom (732–1016) was one of the principal powers of early medieval Java, centered first in Central Java and, from the 10th century onward, in East Java. The two names are largely used for the same polity: Medang appears as the name of the kingdom in indigenous inscriptions, while Mataram refers particularly to its Central Javanese heartland and has become widely established in modern historiography.
Medang developed alongside the powerful Srivijaya Empire, the great maritime polity centered on Sumatra that dominated much of the trade through the Straits of Malacca and maintained far-reaching Buddhist networks across maritime Southeast Asia. Relations between the two spheres were complex, encompassing dynastic connections, religious and artistic exchange, as well as periods of political rivalry. Particularly important was the Buddhist Shailendra dynasty of Central Java, whose precise relationship with both Medang and Srivijaya remains debated, but whose connections with the Sumatran sphere are well documented. Consequently, Buddhist sculpture produced in Java during the Medang period may display close affinities with the broader Srivijaya artistic world without necessarily having been produced within the Srivijaya Empire itself.
Indonesia. Finely cast, standing in a subtle tribhanga, the hands held in karana mudra, the right raised and the left lowered and clasping the hem of the sanghati. The robe covers both shoulders, falling in softly cascading U-shaped folds and gathering in pleated layers above the ankles. The serene face is modeled with sinuously lidded eyes beneath gently arched brows, a broad nose, and softly pursed lips forming a calm smile, flanked by elongated pendulous earlobes. The hair is arranged in tight snailshell curls covering the domed ushnisha.
Provenance: Collection of Louis-Auguste de Brialmont, Liège, Belgium. Antichità La Balaustra, Bologna, Italy, by 1997. Collection of Paolo Bertuzzi, acquired from the above and thence by descent to his son Enrico Bertuzzi. A copy of a stamped certificate written by Giuliana Zanetti of Antichità La Balaustra, addressed to Paolo Bertuzzi, dated 5 March 1997, attributing the present lot to the Mataram (Medang) Kingdom of Java, dating it to the 10th century, 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: Excellent condition, commensurate with age. Wear, casting irregularities, signs of weathering and erosion, encrustations, and minor soil deposits. The bronze with a rich, naturally grown patina with malachite encrustation.
Weight: 5.5 kg
Dimensions: Height 34.5 cm (excl. tang), 39 cm (incl. tang)
Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related copper alloy figure of Buddha granting boons, Western Indonesia, dated to the 8th century, 41 cm high, exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Lost Kingdoms: Hindu-Buddhist Sculpture of Early Southeast Asia, 5th to 8th Century, 14 April-27 July 2014, cat. no. 52. Compare a closely related copper alloy figure of Buddha, Kalimantan, dated 7th-8th century, 26.7 cm high, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 1993.64.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Zacke Vienna, 17 October 2024, lot 219
Price: EUR 31,200 or approx. EUR 33,000 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A bronze figure of Buddha, Srivijaya, 8th-9th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of casting with similar raised folds. Note the similar size (39.6 cm).
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Zacke Vienna, 16 December 2025, lot 460
Price: EUR 14,300 or approx. EUR 15,000 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A large bronze figure of Buddha, Central Java, 7th-8th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of casting. Note the size (46 cm incl tang).
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