India, Bihar, 11th-12th century. Cast standing atop a small plinth, the hands held in abhaya mudra, wearing a diaphanous cape with sampot and adorned with a sumptuous belt as well as large earrings and a tall pointed crown. Provenance: From a French private collection. Condition: Extensive wear, losses, signs of weathering and erosion, remnants of gilt, nicks and scratches, the back with old fills. Fine, naturally grown, dark patina, with areas of cuprite and malachite encrustations. Note the deep vertical incisions to the legs and torso, indicating that silver inlays may once have been in place here. Weight: 550.7 g (incl. base) Dimensions: Height 20 cm (excl. base) and 24.8 cm (incl. base) Mounted on a wood base of square form. (2) In 1930, nearly 150 sculptures, aka the ‘Kurkihar hoard’, were excavated in Kurkihar in the Gaya region of present day Bihar, all of which have been preserved in the Patna Museum, India. Among these excavated works, almost a hundred bear inscriptions, dating them to the 10th to 12th century, later than those found in Nalanda. Materials used in Kurkihar sculptures are mostly brass and bronze, rarely gilt copper. Also different from Nalanda bronzes is the frequent use of silver and copper inlay by Kurkihar artists. Inset stones and glasses would probably have also been popular decorations for works from both sites, though many of them are now missing from the surviving sculptures. The history of Kurkihar remains a point of dispute. The name Kurkihar bares similarity to the historical site Kukkutarama Vihara, recorded by Xuanzang as a place close to Patiliputra (present day Patna), therefore the two may well refer to the same location. However, renowned archaeologist Alexander Cunningham associated Kurkihar with a famous Buddhist site at Kukkutapada Mountain, where Mahakasyapa’s body is said to be enshrined until the appearance of Maitreya. Not far from Bodh Gaya, Kukkutapada Mountain had also appeared in Xuanzang’s account. While archeology has yet to prove if Cunningham’s theory is correct, it would explain why such a rich hoard of sculptures were to be found at Kurkihar. Auction result comparison: Compare a closely related Kurkihar-style bronze of a crowned Buddha, sold in these rooms, in Fine Chinese Art, Buddhism and Hinduism on 11 May 2019, lot 303, sold for EUR 6,320.
India, Bihar, 11th-12th century. Cast standing atop a small plinth, the hands held in abhaya mudra, wearing a diaphanous cape with sampot and adorned with a sumptuous belt as well as large earrings and a tall pointed crown. Provenance: From a French private collection. Condition: Extensive wear, losses, signs of weathering and erosion, remnants of gilt, nicks and scratches, the back with old fills. Fine, naturally grown, dark patina, with areas of cuprite and malachite encrustations. Note the deep vertical incisions to the legs and torso, indicating that silver inlays may once have been in place here. Weight: 550.7 g (incl. base) Dimensions: Height 20 cm (excl. base) and 24.8 cm (incl. base) Mounted on a wood base of square form. (2) In 1930, nearly 150 sculptures, aka the ‘Kurkihar hoard’, were excavated in Kurkihar in the Gaya region of present day Bihar, all of which have been preserved in the Patna Museum, India. Among these excavated works, almost a hundred bear inscriptions, dating them to the 10th to 12th century, later than those found in Nalanda. Materials used in Kurkihar sculptures are mostly brass and bronze, rarely gilt copper. Also different from Nalanda bronzes is the frequent use of silver and copper inlay by Kurkihar artists. Inset stones and glasses would probably have also been popular decorations for works from both sites, though many of them are now missing from the surviving sculptures. The history of Kurkihar remains a point of dispute. The name Kurkihar bares similarity to the historical site Kukkutarama Vihara, recorded by Xuanzang as a place close to Patiliputra (present day Patna), therefore the two may well refer to the same location. However, renowned archaeologist Alexander Cunningham associated Kurkihar with a famous Buddhist site at Kukkutapada Mountain, where Mahakasyapa’s body is said to be enshrined until the appearance of Maitreya. Not far from Bodh Gaya, Kukkutapada Mountain had also appeared in Xuanzang’s account. While archeology has yet to prove if Cunningham’s theory is correct, it would explain why such a rich hoard of sculptures were to be found at Kurkihar. Auction result comparison: Compare a closely related Kurkihar-style bronze of a crowned Buddha, sold in these rooms, in Fine Chinese Art, Buddhism and Hinduism on 11 May 2019, lot 303, sold for EUR 6,320.
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.jpg "Quelle: Christie's")
.jpg "Quelle: Christie's")
