CHINE, ROYAUME DE DALI, PROVINCE DU YUNNAN, XIIEME SIECLE Il est représenté debout, les deux mains en anjalimudra. Il est vêtu d'une longue robe nouée à la taille, aux manches amples tombant en plis harmonieux le long du corps. Ses épaules sont couvertes d'une cape. Il porte une écharpe et des bijoux. Son front est ceint d'un diadème ouvragé et ses cheveux sont maintenus en chignon par un ruban dont les extrémités retombent sur ses épaules. Ses yeux sont légèrement entrouverts. Son visage est empreint de sérénité ; traces de dorure et de laque, ancienne restauration aux mains, accidents. Haut: 64,3 cm. (25 1/8 in.)
Previously from a French private collection, Toulouse, acquired by the previous owner's grandparents in Hanoi in the early 20th century, by repute.
The area of Yunnan province was dominated by the Kingdom of Nanzhao from 737 to 902 before the Dali Kingdom (937-1274). Through battles and political expansion, the Nanzhao Kingdom became close to the Chinese Dynasty of the Tang, and maintained relationships with Laos, Thailand, Burma and Northern China.
In 937, although the new rulers of Dali Kingdom came from Mongolia, they absorbed the history and customs of the region that they had recently conquered.
A Radiocarbon test by the Institut Royal du Patrimoine Artistique, Brussels, presented on 3 October 2019 is available on request and it attests the dating of the sculpture most probably between 1155 and 1255.