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Kampuchea Chef This is one of the most gracious and beautiful female Khmer sculptures, Thursday, April 20, 2023
Khmer Art Overseas:
This is one of the most gracious and beautiful female Khmer sculptures, stolen in the dead of night, and torn from its sacred setting within the innermost chamber of its temple, where it was revered with great dignity and pomp a thousand years ago. The incredible quality of the craftsmanship of the stone sculptor, who created this Khmer goddess during the first-half of the eleventh century, is obvious to all. Where this remarkably delicate image of Uma, the favoured consort of the Hindu god Shiva, was originally housed will never be known. As with all looted Khmer artifacts now far from home, the act of removal broke the bond between the venerated image and her purpose, as the focus of reverential worship beside a similar well-executed portrayal of Shiva. We don’t even know where this gorgeously polished statuette is housed today, just to add more mystery to the tale. In the recent past, it was owned by two famous private art collectors, as a favourite artwork in the collection of financier Christian Humann, before he passed away unexpectedly in 1981 and his entire collection (over 1,600 items) was purchased for $12million by an equally established art connoisseur, Robert Hatfield Ellsworth. He proceeded to sell significant artworks to various museums and at landmark auctions by both Christie’s and Sotheby’s, and at some stage this sculpture of Uma was sold, likely after Ellsworth’s death in 2014, but to whom is not known. Perhaps it’s lost forever behind the veil of secrecy that permeates private art collections around the globe.
With Baphuon style statues generally smaller than previous art styles, this graceful standing example is very typical. With a relatively large head, the eyebrows and pupils are delicately incised, with a sensual mouth with full lips, slightly parted. The face, almost round, conforms to a criterion of beauty that refers to the full moon, and the neck is incised with beauty folds. A chignon-topped hairstyle, with the braided locks pulled up into a domed bun, is kept in place at the base by a circular row of beads. A single pendant earring remains intact. To enhance the nobility of our goddess, the upper body is decorated with a necklace, a breast chain, upper armbands, bracelets and anklets. Firm breasts offer a suggestion of youth, and the slender waist contrasts with the wide shoulders. The finely pleated skirt, clinging to the goddess’s legs, dips forward below the navel and is knotted with a single tie. The belt is a simple smooth band and below, a vertical pleated edge has its lower end widening into a fishtail. The forearms and hands of the goddess extend forward; the left hand is damaged but the wrist and fingers of the right hand make the gesture of katakahasta; and likely once held a detachable lotus made from a precious material.https://www.facebook.com/andy.brouwer.71
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