A FINE SANDSTONE TORSO OF A MALE DEITY, PRASAT ANDET STYLE, PRE-ANGKORIAN PERIOD, 7TH CENTURY
A FINE SANDSTONE TORSO OF A MALE DEITY, PRASAT ANDET STYLE, PRE-ANGKORIAN PERIOD, 7TH CENTURY
This lot is from a single owner collection and is therefore offered without reserve
The Jorgen Ruben Gallery Ledger, entry from 2005:
“No. 190, LA 1975, A. Maynard, Pre-Khmer Prasat Andet 7th c. stone torso of Vishnu”
Gallery price: EUR 31,000 or approx.
EUR 52,000 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing.
Finely carved, the four-armed muscular deity standing in a hieratically frontal position (samabhanga), wearing a long dhoti secured at the waist and forming a vertical pleat at the front, with a thick sash tied around the hips. The elongated torso is naturalistically modeled with broad shoulders and a muscular neck, and the diaphanous robes cling to the legs revealing the form underneath.
Provenance: Adrian Maynard, London, by 1975. Collection of Leo Albrecht, Denmark, acquired from the above. Jorgen Ruben, acquired from the above before 2005. In the Jorgen Ruben Collection for at least 21 years.
Adrian Maynard joined Spink & Sons in 1947, where he was appointed Director from 1962 and eventually Deputy Chairman until his retirement in 1984. He was a man of enormous drive and undoubtedly the most flamboyant character to take charge of the Asian art department, which he took to the height of its success. Maynard believed firmly that "a dealer, whose fortune and good name depends on knowing what to buy, has a much greater responsibility to be right about the objects that come into his hands than, say, an academic, who never handles large sums of money.”
Leo Albrecht was a German-born publisher and literary agent who established himself in Copenhagen after the Second World War. In 1951 he founded his agency, which played an important role in expanding the international market for Scandinavian literature. He began collecting art in the late 1950s, with a particular focus on Asian sculpture. In Copenhagen, he spent much of his time visiting antique dealers, museums, and exhibitions. He developed especially close ties with Ole Haslund, Lau Sunde, and Freddy Hansen, among the most prominent dealers in their fields. He also traveled frequently to London, where he became close friends with Adrian Maynard. Jorgen Ruben first met Albrecht in 1984, and they quickly became close friends. Ruben later described him as a gentleman and “the greatest collector of Asian art in Denmark.” He acquired Albrecht's entire Asian sculpture collection when Albrecht moved back to Germany after selling his publishing company. The two remained close, with Albrecht continuing to visit Denmark each summer and staying at the Ruben family's beach house north of Copenhagen.
Jorgen Ruben is a Danish art dealer and collector who has been active for over four decades and is highly regarded in the fields of Asian art and classical antiquities. Raised in an art-conscious family, Ruben was exposed early to both modern painting and European decorative arts. He began working in the art trade in the mid-1970s, first with Persian rugs and later with antiques, while travels to Iran and a visit to Persepolis sparked his lasting interest in antiquity. After studies in Copenhagen and London, he worked in England with a dealer in early furniture, before travelling widely in Latin America and Asia, deepening his knowledge of regional art and culture. In 1984 Ruben opened a gallery in Copenhagen dealing in Asian antiquities. He was later active in London and, in the early 2000s, operated the Brussels gallery Classic Art. Much of his career, however, has been conducted privately from home, selling by appointment to collectors, galleries, and museums. Ruben has always bought selectively, choosing only works that deeply engaged him, and often keeping them for many years until placing them with a collector he felt truly understood them.
Important Note: For essential information on the
Jorgen Ruben Gallery Ledger and provenance documentation please visit here: www.zacke.at/rubencollection_ledger
Condition: Good condition with expected wear, obvious losses, nicks, chips, scratches, signs of weathering and erosion, and encrustations.
Weight: 19.5 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 57 cm (excl. stand), 63 cm (incl. stand)
Mounted on an associated stand. (2)
The Khmer Empire controlled Cambodia as well as large areas of Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos from the sixth to the fifteenth centuries. Khmer sculpture of the pre-Angkor period is unsurpassed in its grace and spirituality, its remarkable naturalism of anatomy and stance, and its restraint in decoration. The present image with its delicately modeled musculature, supple articulation of limbs, and slender torso draped in a deceptively simple sampot, is characteristic of the finest pre-Angkor style. Prasat Andet was constructed in the second half of the 7th century, sometime between 627 and 707 during the Jayavarman I era, and was dedicated to the Hindu god Harihara.
Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related larger Phnom Da style sandstone figure of a male divinity, dated pre-Angkor period, 6th century, 97 cm high, in the National Museum of Cambodia, inventory number Ka.872.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby's Paris, 12 June 2008, lot 316
Price: EUR 12,500 or approx.
EUR 16,500 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: Torse d'une divinité masculine en grès Pré-Angkorien, VI-VIIE siècle
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of carving with similar dhoti secured to the waist with a thick sash tied around the hips.
Buyer's Premium
30%
A FINE SANDSTONE TORSO OF A MALE DEITY, PRASAT ANDET STYLE, PRE-ANGKORIAN PERIOD, 7TH CENTURY
This lot is from a single owner collection and is therefore offered without reserve
The Jorgen Ruben Gallery Ledger, entry from 2005:
“No. 190, LA 1975, A. Maynard, Pre-Khmer Prasat Andet 7th c. stone torso of Vishnu”
Gallery price: EUR 31,000 or approx.
EUR 52,000 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing.
Finely carved, the four-armed muscular deity standing in a hieratically frontal position (samabhanga), wearing a long dhoti secured at the waist and forming a vertical pleat at the front, with a thick sash tied around the hips. The elongated torso is naturalistically modeled with broad shoulders and a muscular neck, and the diaphanous robes cling to the legs revealing the form underneath.
Provenance: Adrian Maynard, London, by 1975. Collection of Leo Albrecht, Denmark, acquired from the above. Jorgen Ruben, acquired from the above before 2005. In the Jorgen Ruben Collection for at least 21 years.
Adrian Maynard joined Spink & Sons in 1947, where he was appointed Director from 1962 and eventually Deputy Chairman until his retirement in 1984. He was a man of enormous drive and undoubtedly the most flamboyant character to take charge of the Asian art department, which he took to the height of its success. Maynard believed firmly that "a dealer, whose fortune and good name depends on knowing what to buy, has a much greater responsibility to be right about the objects that come into his hands than, say, an academic, who never handles large sums of money.”
Leo Albrecht was a German-born publisher and literary agent who established himself in Copenhagen after the Second World War. In 1951 he founded his agency, which played an important role in expanding the international market for Scandinavian literature. He began collecting art in the late 1950s, with a particular focus on Asian sculpture. In Copenhagen, he spent much of his time visiting antique dealers, museums, and exhibitions. He developed especially close ties with Ole Haslund, Lau Sunde, and Freddy Hansen, among the most prominent dealers in their fields. He also traveled frequently to London, where he became close friends with Adrian Maynard. Jorgen Ruben first met Albrecht in 1984, and they quickly became close friends. Ruben later described him as a gentleman and “the greatest collector of Asian art in Denmark.” He acquired Albrecht's entire Asian sculpture collection when Albrecht moved back to Germany after selling his publishing company. The two remained close, with Albrecht continuing to visit Denmark each summer and staying at the Ruben family's beach house north of Copenhagen.
Jorgen Ruben is a Danish art dealer and collector who has been active for over four decades and is highly regarded in the fields of Asian art and classical antiquities. Raised in an art-conscious family, Ruben was exposed early to both modern painting and European decorative arts. He began working in the art trade in the mid-1970s, first with Persian rugs and later with antiques, while travels to Iran and a visit to Persepolis sparked his lasting interest in antiquity. After studies in Copenhagen and London, he worked in England with a dealer in early furniture, before travelling widely in Latin America and Asia, deepening his knowledge of regional art and culture. In 1984 Ruben opened a gallery in Copenhagen dealing in Asian antiquities. He was later active in London and, in the early 2000s, operated the Brussels gallery Classic Art. Much of his career, however, has been conducted privately from home, selling by appointment to collectors, galleries, and museums. Ruben has always bought selectively, choosing only works that deeply engaged him, and often keeping them for many years until placing them with a collector he felt truly understood them.
Important Note: For essential information on the
Jorgen Ruben Gallery Ledger and provenance documentation please visit here: www.zacke.at/rubencollection_ledger
Condition: Good condition with expected wear, obvious losses, nicks, chips, scratches, signs of weathering and erosion, and encrustations.
Weight: 19.5 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 57 cm (excl. stand), 63 cm (incl. stand)
Mounted on an associated stand. (2)
The Khmer Empire controlled Cambodia as well as large areas of Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos from the sixth to the fifteenth centuries. Khmer sculpture of the pre-Angkor period is unsurpassed in its grace and spirituality, its remarkable naturalism of anatomy and stance, and its restraint in decoration. The present image with its delicately modeled musculature, supple articulation of limbs, and slender torso draped in a deceptively simple sampot, is characteristic of the finest pre-Angkor style. Prasat Andet was constructed in the second half of the 7th century, sometime between 627 and 707 during the Jayavarman I era, and was dedicated to the Hindu god Harihara.
Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related larger Phnom Da style sandstone figure of a male divinity, dated pre-Angkor period, 6th century, 97 cm high, in the National Museum of Cambodia, inventory number Ka.872.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby's Paris, 12 June 2008, lot 316
Price: EUR 12,500 or approx.
EUR 16,500 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: Torse d'une divinité masculine en grès Pré-Angkorien, VI-VIIE siècle
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of carving with similar dhoti secured to the waist with a thick sash tied around the hips.
Buyer's Premium
30%
