Brass Elephant Form Hammer Head - JB.1343, Dimensions: 4.1" (10.4cm) high, Medium: Brass.

Brass Elephant Form Hammer Head - JB.1343, Dimensions: 4.1" (10.4cm) high, Medium: Brass.   « Less

Inlaid Mughal Ornament - AD.110, Origin: India, Circa: 18 th Century AD, Dimensions: 1.8" (4.6cm) high, Collection: Islamic Art, Style: Mughal, Medium: Rock Crystal.

Inlaid Mughal Ornament - AD.110, Origin: India, Circa: 18 th Century AD, Dimensions: 1.8" (4.6cm) high, Collection: Islamic Art, Style: Mughal, Medium: Rock Crystal.   « Less

Serenely poised with the ritual hand gesture of Bhumisparsa mudra, or “calling the earth to witness,” this stunning bronze Buddha sits atop a beautiful stepped  More »

Serenely poised with the ritual hand gesture of Bhumisparsa mudra, or “calling the earth to witness,” this stunning bronze Buddha sits atop a beautiful stepped throne shaped in the form of a lotus flower. His legs are folded in the characteristic Virasana position with the right leg over the left, soles turned upwards against his thighs. A softly modeled round face is framed by ear pendants and a crown of peppercorn curls topped by a prominent ushnisa, or cranial protuberance, one of the distinguishing markings of the Buddha. Ornamentation on the bronze Buddha’s body highlights the noble lines of this exalted figure, while his meditative facial features enhance his salient mystical qualities. To behold this bronze sculpture of the Buddha is to experience an artistic expression that truly transcends the world of mere mortals. - (PF.2505)   « Less

Bhairava (The Wrathful) is one of the more terrifying aspects of Shiva, the Hindu creator god. He is often depicted with frowning, angry eyes and sharp, tiger's teeth and  More »

Bhairava (The Wrathful) is one of the more terrifying aspects of Shiva, the Hindu creator god. He is often depicted with frowning, angry eyes and sharp, tiger's teeth and flaming hair; stark naked except for garlands of skulls and a coiled snake about his neck. Often represented with multiple limbs, he most frequently carries a noose, trident, drum, and skull. Bhairava is Shiva at his most terrifying, at his most fearful. He may be understood as a particular manifestation, or emanation of Shiva, or as Shiva displaying himself at a very high level. In some myths, Shiva created Bhairava as an extension of himself, in order to chastise Brahma. Bhairava is the embodiment of fear, and it is said that those who meet him must confront the source of their own fears. His name describes the effect he has upon those who behold him, as it derives from the word “bhiru,” which means to become fearful - of feeling great fear.This wooden sculpture is a perfect representation of Bhairava. Intricately carved by a master sculptor, he has a fierce expression with three bulging round eyes. Stylized flames wrap around his head, also representing his fiery eyebrows and moustache. A hole has been pierced through his mouth in between his sharp fangs. His jewelry is composed of serpents: two coiled snakes represent his earrings while he wears a snake as a necklace. Perhaps even more intimidating is the diadem that crowns his head. A central head of a bodhisattva watches over from above, his peacefulness opposed to the series of skulls entwined with a snake. Represented from his torso up, he forms a mudra with one hand while holding either a drum or a decapitated skull in his other. Bhairava is a vision extracted from our worst nightmare; he plays with our fears and taunts our innermost weaknesses. However, even in his dread, he offers us hope, such as the hope for rebirth after the destruction of the world. - (PF.5792)   « Less

The Khmer civilization, today embodied by the temples and ruins of Angkor, one of mankind's most astonishing and enduring architectural achievements, flourished from 802-1431  More »

The Khmer civilization, today embodied by the temples and ruins of Angkor, one of mankind's most astonishing and enduring architectural achievements, flourished from 802-1431 A.D. From the great citadel of Angkor, the kings of the Khmer empire ruled over a vast domain that reached from what is now southern Vietnam to Yunnan, China and from Vietnam westward to the Bay of Bengal. The original city was built around the Phnom Bakeng, a temple on a hill symbolizing the mountain that stands in the center of the world according to Hindu cosmology. Successive kings enlarged the city, building other temples devoted to various Hindu deities and large reservoirs used for irrigation, which also symbolized the ocean surrounding the holy central mountain.The Bayon style of Khmer art flourished under the rule of a wise and powerful monarch, Jayavarman VII. The sculpture became more life-like, reflecting more of a human ideal of beauty than the monumental art of the previous Brahmanic periods. Bayon works combined a tempered realism with an intense expressiveness. The famous “Angkor smile,” as epitomized by the sweet visage of this bronze Buddha, dates to this period. The Bayon period was characterized by its allegiance to the Sakyamuni, a temporary religious trend that would only last until the resurgence of Brahmanic sects shortly after the passing of Jayavarman VII. The historical figure, Buddha Gautama Sakyamuni is the Buddha of compassion who, having achieved the highest evolutionary perfection, turns suffering into happiness for all living beings. Born around 560 B.C. somewhere between the hills of south Nepal and the Rapti River, his father was a Raja who ruled over the northeastern province of India, the district including the holy Ganges River. The young prince was married to Yashoda when he was about 17 years old and together they had a son named Rahula. At the age of 29, he left his life of luxury, as he felt compelled to purify his body and make it an instrument of the mind by ridding himself of earthly impulses and temptations. Here, the Buddha rests upon a stylized lotus throne, or padmapitha, a symbol of his divine birth and total purity, posing in the Bhumisparsa mudra, or “gesture of touching the earth.” This mudra portrays the Buddha taking the earth as witness; it is a gesture of unshakable faith and resolution. The large conical bump on top of his head, known as an ushnisa, symbolizes his overwhelming wisdom. His earlobes droop downwards, having been pulled by the heavy earrings he wore in his youth, reflecting his wealthy origins. However, he left this life of luxury behind and is shown here wearing only simple monastic robes. More than a gorgeous work of art, this sculpture is a memorial to perhaps the most flourishing creative period in the great history of Angkor. - (FZ.414)   « Less

This large, impressive schist sculpture of a celestial entertainer was created during the Kalyani Chalukya Dynasty. It would have likely once decorated a temple structure,  More »

This large, impressive schist sculpture of a celestial entertainer was created during the Kalyani Chalukya Dynasty. It would have likely once decorated a temple structure, the interiors and exteriors of which were traditionally adorned with idealized representations of women. Such sculptures would have served as entertainment for the gods while reminding the visitors of the sanctity of the temple. She has an elegant, rhythmic posture that suggests she is moving her body to the beat of the music. Her body is festooned in jewelry, including a necklace that covers her shoulders with tassels and two other longer necklaces, the bottoms of which have broken away. She also wears a skirt with beaded decorations. Her waist is thin, while her shoulders are broad and her breasts are perfectly spherical, formal attributes that are characteristic of Indian sculpture of this period, specifically from the region of Karnataka or Mysore. This work reflects the influence that the art of the Chola Dynasty of Tamil Nadu had on their neighbors. - (X.0457)   « Less

As Sakyamuni Buddha was first of all a historical figure, incidents in his life, as in that of Christ, have always been a favourite amongst Buddhist patrons and artists. Of  More »

As Sakyamuni Buddha was first of all a historical figure, incidents in his life, as in that of Christ, have always been a favourite amongst Buddhist patrons and artists. Of these, his birth numbers amongst the most important, along with his conception, his achievement of enlightenment under the Bodhi tree at Bodhgaya, his first sermon at Sarnath, the great miracle at Sravasti and his parinirvana or death.In our beautiful lintel, primed with a thin layer of lime and painted with mineral pigments, the scene follows traditional Buddhist iconography. The Buddha is shown born from the right side of his mother, Maya, to be received by the god Indra on a white drape. Maya is depicted with a double halo around her head, while Indra and all the other Hindu gods wear a single halo and all stand on lotus plinths. Their presence attests to their role in Buddhism, simply enlisted as particularly eminent worshippers of the Buddha.Maya, the Buddha’s mother, is seen wearing a white vest and holding a frond of the highly stylised foliage canopy above her and standing on a lotus bud, almost in tribanga posture. This scene refers to the immemorial fertility association in India between a young girl, or a yaksini, and a tree, recorded in countless carvings and known as ‘salabanjika’, where she bends or clings to the foliage of a tree. On her proper left, stands a woman carrying a pot of consecrated water, essential at such an event. At both sides of the central scene stand two elephants’ protomes as symbols of royalty, and from their trunks small apsaras on lotus buds emerge floating in mid-air. Another curious small figurine, all wrapped up in a double halo, standing on a lotus bud just behind the last attendant on the left, might represent again the Buddha who, as the legend narrates, was able to walk and speak at birth, thus providing a double-layer narrative mposition.The treatment of the garments strongly suggests Graeco-Roman influence, which was indeed pervasive in Gandhara in the first centuries of the Common Era; yet at the same time the costumes and turbans are Indian, with the exception of Maya’s tunic which seems ethnically Kusana.Reference: (for a similar scene in carving in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford) J.C. Harle, The Art and Architecture of the Indian Sub-Continent, London, 1986: fig.58. - (X.0521)   « Less

Tall cylindrical body with flattened shoulders and upright neck. The decoration distributed in horizontal registers intersperse by applied ondulated cordons. Scenes include  More »

Tall cylindrical body with flattened shoulders and upright neck. The decoration distributed in horizontal registers intersperse by applied ondulated cordons. Scenes include zoomorphs in profile interspersed amidst tall trees. - (LO.836)   « Less

The minute sculpture of our emaciated Buddha portrays him seated in meditation, almost skeletal, his body reduced to a frame of bones, the skin tautly stretched with the  More »

The minute sculpture of our emaciated Buddha portrays him seated in meditation, almost skeletal, his body reduced to a frame of bones, the skin tautly stretched with the veins and sinews visible on the surface. The face, with sunken eyes and prominent sockets and cheeks, elongated earlobes, aquiline nose and grown beard - the only instance in Buddhist iconography where the Buddha is portrayed unshaved-.Images of the starving Buddha allegedly represent the historical Buddha during the six years of extreme austerities he practiced after leaving home and before reaching enlightenment at Bodhgaya. In his quest for enlightenment, Sakiamuni went through an experimental period of renunciation by embarking on various extreme ascetic practices, which he then abandoned in favour of a more moderate path, as they were not proving instrumental to reach his spiritual goal.According to the account of the Buddhist monk Xuanzang on Bodhgaya, images of starving Buddhas were associated with disease and health and could cure those who worshipped it. The black and emaciated body of the Buddha is mostly associated with death, in opposition to what the Buddha most particularly accomplished, i.e. victory over it. His wasted body also suggests the pain he suffered through the process of physical starvation. Yet his voluntary withdrawal from starvation also proved his power over matter and ultimately death.One of the most well-known sculptures of starving Buddha comes from the Sikri Stupa, now in the Lahore Museum in Pakistan, which features an almost identical depiction to ours, although much bigger in size. Other two impressing parallels to our sculpture are represented by the one from Takht-i-Bahi now in Peshawar and the one in the British Museum, London.Only a handful of such images are known in the world today, occurring almost entirely from the Gandharan region and dating roughly to the Kushan period, in the first four centuries of the Common Era. This theme is not found anywhere else in Indian art and it will reappear only later in Chinese and Japanese art of the Chan-Zen tradition.Considering the paucity and rarity of images related to such a theme in Buddhist art, our emaciated Buddha stands out as a unique example both for aesthetic refinement and historical poignancy. - (LO.1224)   « Less

The Almighty God Our Father seduces our senses and overwhelms our minds.He reverberates the ideal wisdom,compassion and majesty that was based on the current conception of  More »

The Almighty God Our Father seduces our senses and overwhelms our minds.He reverberates the ideal wisdom,compassion and majesty that was based on the current conception of early Christian art. The Church was well aware of the extraordinary capacity of visual images to influence human belief and behavior. "God" floats against a golden background that has captured the sparks of light from heaven. The glitter and glow, the intensity of expression in the eyes seems to scintillate from an inner source. Imagine the magic of the church space where this icon was once placed, the play of light and shadow from candles glowing, the scent of incense permeating the air, and the softly whispered prayers of those in searchofsalvation. In such a context one might easily feel our earthbound soul ascending straight to God. - (PF.4361)God The Father - PF.4361Origin: St. Petersburg, Russia Circa: 1800 AD to 1900 AD Dimensions: 44"(111.8cm)igh Catalogue:V22Collection: Russian Style: St. Petersburg School Medium: Paint on Wood Panel   « Less