SOTHEBY’S SPRING SALE OF INDIAN AND SOUTHEAST ASIAN WORKS WILL BE HELD IN NEW YORK ON MARCH 19, 2008 Sotheby’s spring sale of Indian and Southeast Asian Art, including Miniatures, in New York will be held on March 19, 2008, and will feature a number of extraordinary works of exceptional quality.
News-Antique.com - Feb 20,2008 - New York, New York – Sotheby’s spring sale of Indian and Southeast Asian Art, including
Miniatures, in New York will be held on March 19, 2008, and will feature a number of extraordinary
works of exceptional quality and provenance, including a gilt copper Buddha Shakyamuni, Tibet,
14th/15th century from a Private European Collection (pictured above, est. $1.5/2.5 million). The
sale boasts a great variety of works, featuring Himalayan, Indian, and Southeast Asian pieces. The
156 lots, including 38 miniatures, will be on exhibition at Sotheby’s beginning on March 13th.
Property from the sale is expected to bring $5.7/8.5 million*.
Highlighting this year’s sale of Indian and Southeast Asian Works of Art is a gilt copper Buddha
Vajrasana, Tibet, 14th/15th century, from a Private European Collection (pictured on page 1, est.
$1.5/2.5 million). This exceptionally fine and radiant sculpture is one of the largest and most
important early Tibetan gilt bronze figures of Shakyamuni Buddha outside Tibet. The statue remains
in pristine condition, with a seamless covering of rich mercury gilding over the meticulously cast
figure and separately made pedestal, the face and neck painted with powdered gold and pigments in
accordance with Tibetan ritual practice. The character of the sculpture is wholly Tibetan, yet certain
Nepalese artistic references are discernable. The iconographic form in which the historical Buddha is
seated with his right hand in the earth-touching position, bhumisparsha mudra, recalls a momentous
episode from his spiritual biography in which he triumphs over Mara just prior to his enlightenment.
A Vajrasattva, made of gilt copper and semi-precious stones,
Tibet, 13th century, will also be on offer from a private European
collection (pictured here, est. $300/400,000). The Vajrasattva,
Adamantine Being, is regarded as an archetypal Buddha remaining as
bohisattva for the benefit of sentient beings and is supplicated in rites
of purification. In this exceptionally fine and rare sculpture,
Vajrasattva appears strong and youthful yet with a compassionate
gaze, his exalted regal status evident in
his sumptuous crown and jewelry.
The sculptural style of this important
deity in the Tibetan pantheon is closely related to the Nepalese
traditions of the Newar artists who were highly appreciated by
Tibetan patrons of the arts from the seventh century onwards.
Another highlight of the sale is a Khmer gray sandstone torso of a
Male Deity, Baphuon, first half 11th century (pictured here), with a
slender waist and broad hips. The figure is depicted with a vertically
striated sampot bound with a plain belt, overlapping folds of a stylized pocket on his left thigh and a
fish-tailed bow tied below his back. Measuring over 30”, the piece is being offered from a
Distinguished Private Collection and is estimated to bring $400/600,000.
The sale will feature two finely cast
portrait bronzes from Tibet, 15th
century (pictured here, est.
$200/300,000 each) representing
Gyaltshap Kunga Wangchuk, the
fourth abbot of Ngor monastery.
In both works, the lama is depicted
in his everyday monk’s attire. The
work at right depicts him with an
idiosyncratic and engaging human expression, in
