Bonhams New York announces Himalayan, Indian & Southeast Asian sale in September

21 août 2012

Bonhams New York announces Himalayan, Indian & Southeast Asian sale in September

The Eilenberg Buddha. Copper alloy, Thailand, Mon Dvaravati period, circa 8th century. Photo: Bonhams.

NEW YORK, NY.- Following the tremendous success of the spring auction, where world records were established in multiple categories of Indian painting, Bonhams will present another important group of paintings in the September 11 Himalayan, Indian & Southeast Asian sale. On offer is a strong selection of fresh to market works coming from private collections and estates including: 60+ Indian paintings from the 16th - 19th century; a fine group of Indian sculpture and works of art; approximately 20 Himalayan works with a strong offering of Tibetan paintings; and a small eclectic group of Southeast Asian sculpture and works of art.

Bonhams will also present another important group of paintings from the royal courts of Rajasthan and Punjab Hills. The sale will feature a number of equestrian portraits of rulers from the celebrated court of Mewar (Udaipur) including the dazzling processional scene of Sajjan Singh, dated 1883 by the court artist Sivalal (pre-sale estimate $30,000-40,000). Photo: Bonhams.. Typical of the court painting from Udaipur great emphasis was placed on royal stable of horses and elephants. More often than not the artist focused a great amount of detail on the animal compared with the humans in the composition. This is especially evident in this painting and the inscription on the back identifies the names of the horses as well as the dignitaries who are riding them.

Other highlight paintings include: a 19th century opaque watercolor illustration to the Hamir Hatha attributed to Sajnu (pre-sale est. $25,000-35,000). Photo: Bonhams. Inscribed verso:
A picture of Maharajadhiraj Maharana Ji Shri, 108 times Shri, Sajjan Singh ji on his horse Kasnak Kanwar, on the fourth day of the month of Pausha (10th month of the Hindu calendar) Samvat 1938 (circa 1880-81 AD?)
Shri Ji huzur went riding with -
On his right hand side; Badnore Kesri Singh ji on Kumait, Manohar Singh ji Sardar Garh on Kulo, Ruglal dhabai on Champo
The row in front; Fateh Singh ji on Nukde, Kaviraj Sawal Das Singh ji on Champo, Nathu on Surag
The row behind; Mama (Uncle) Bakhtawar Singh ji on Champo, Mehta Rai Panna Lal ji on Ujjlo Surag, Daghwadiya Onaar ji on Leelo, Sahiwala Arjan Singh ji on Surag, Ranawat Udai Singh ji on Kumait; with their horse attendants. Done by the artist Chataro (?) Sivalal in Samvat 1940' (circa 1883 AD ?)

a late 18th century opaque watercolor illustration to a Ramayana Series: Rama and Lakshmana confer with the monkey army (pre-sale est. $25,000-35,000). Photo: Bonhams. The composition is distinguished by the rich and lush foliage that is a hallmark of late 18th century painting in Guler and Kangra. Compare with another page in the series that sold at Sotheby's, New York, March 21, 2012, which has a almost identical perspective and pink tinged ridges, but is a singular event and lacks any foliage.

The Ramayana series from which this miniature originates was executed at Kangra circa 1775-80 and represents the style current there when Sansar Chand came to the throne in 1775. The series may have been commissioned by the mother of the ruler or by the family priest in anticipation of his marriage in 1781. It can be attributed to the same masters as worked on the "first" Bhagavata Purana and the "first" Gita Govinda series produced for Sansar Chand. Pages from this Ramayana have been published and discussed in W G Archer, Visions of Courtly India, London, 1976, nos. 40-42; Pratapaditya Pal, The Flute and the Brush, The Theo Brown and Paul Wonner Collection, Newport Beach, 1976, no. 6.

and another opaque watercolor circa 1695 to the 'third' Rasamanjari of Bhanu Dutta: The intoxicated courtesan (pre-sale est. $60,000-80,000). Photo: Bonhams. The illustrated text of the Rasamanjari is centered upon the popular theme of the hero and heroine (nayakanayiki) and expounds upon the many aspects of love (longing, separation, rejection, etc). The compositions are noted for their contrasting fields of solid color, lyrical figures and applied lustrous green beetle wings and the jewel-like raised dots of shell-lime.

Bonhams is also delighted to announce the presentation of Indian and Southeast Asian art from the Estate of Natasha Eilenberg. The highlight of the collection is a staggering 7th-8th century bronze figure of Buddha from the Mon Dvaravati culture in Thailand. Cast in frontal position, with both arms bent at the elbows, on a parallel level, and his hands displaying the vitarka mudra (signifying the act of teaching the dharma or explication). Typical of the period, the Buddha has a broad face, full lips and elongated eyes conveying a sublime expression.

This is the most important Mon Dvaravati sculpture to appear in the market in over twenty-five years. With exceptional provenance dating prior to 1969 together with broad affection and respect for Natasha Eilenberg the Buddha will be of interest an international group of museums and collectors (pre-sale estimate $250,000-350,000)

The Eilenberg Buddha. Copper alloy, Thailand, Mon Dvaravati period, circa 8th century. Photo: Bonhams.

Cast in frontal position of samabhanga, with both arms bent at the elbows, on a parallel level, and his hands displaying the vitarka mudra (signifying the act of teaching the dharma or explication). He wears a diaphanous robe leaving the right shoulder bare and hanging in a long pleated cape-like manner over his left arm down to his shin. The Buddha has a broad face, full lips, elongated eyes with faint arching brows converge to a short broad nose, the whole conveying a sublime expression. His hair is worked in small bump-like knots over his domed ushnisha and his distended earlobes recall his regal life before enlightenment. 19 in. (48.3 cm) high

Notes; The treatment of the robe is unusual in that it does not follow the classic tradition of the 'full cape' that is known to have originated from the Indian Gupta (5th/6th century). Here the robe is arranged that leaves the right shoulder bare in a style that is more familiar in the 6th-8th century Sri Lankan Buddhas and earlier Amravati (2nd/3rd century) figures. However they favored robes delineated with parallel lines of fine pleats and figures with broad shoulders and smaller heads. The Mon Dvaravati style introduced a smooth diaphanous treatment of the robe, almost invisible across the androgynous body, and more balanced proportions of the whole figure. As noted by Jean Boisselier in The Heritage of Thai Sculpture, 1975, p. 73, "The school of Dvaravati may stand alongside the great Buddhist artistic traditions of India, so enduring were its innovations and so persuasive its influence on most of the art of Southeast Asia."

In comparison with the large Mon Dvaravati standing Buddha in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, (59.149), they both share the same facial shape, thick head of knotted hair and slender sensuous line of the torso. However, the Eilenberg Buddha has lower, more relaxed shoulders falling from a slender neck that provides a more natural and free-flowing line. Another closely related example is in the National Museum, Bangkok (see Sculpture of Thailand, Theodore Bowie ed., Asian Society, New York, 1972, no.5).

The Eilenberg Buddha is the most important Mon Dvaravati sculpture to have appeared in the market recent years and it could be argued that it is the finest example of its type still in private hands.

Provenance: Natasha Eilenberg Collection, 1969
Samuel and Natasha Eilenberg Collection
Acquired by the above in the 1950s and 60s

Natasha Eilenberg (1919-2012).
Natasha was an outstanding independent scholar of the art and culture of India and Southeast Asia. She produced a number of important publications based on her own research, as well as, translations from the French of Jean Boisselier, one of the twentieth century's most influential historians of Khmer art.

Natasha came to the U.S.A. in 1946 where her travel experience led her to open a travel agency that she sold in 1967. During this time Natasha married Samuel Eilenberg, a mathematics professor at Columbia University. The marriage ended in a divorce and it was during this period that she began to study the art of India and Southeast Asia.

She began to travel to Paris to attend lectures at the Sorbonne and became a student of professor Jean Boisselier. Natasha developed a close professional and personal relationship with another famous Sorbonne art historian, professor Madeleine Giteau who worked on the Khmer art of Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam. Khmer art became Natasha's scholarly focus.

Her close relationship with professor Boisselier and the familiarity with his often complex scholarship led her to produce two English translations of his publications. She published in 1989 a translation of Boisselier's Tendances de l'art khmer (Trends in Khmer Art), published by Cornell University's Southeast Asia Program which quickly sold out. In 2008 Natasha published a volume of edited and translated articles by Boisselier titled Studies on the Art of Ancient Cambodia: Ten Articles by Jean Boisselier, published by Reyum in Phnom Penh. Besides these two long translations, the great respect she had for Boisselier inspired yet another publication in 1997, a volume of essays with over 40 contributions from scholars from around the world, which was a birthday present for Boisselier on his 80th Birthday (Living a Life in Accord with Dhamma: Papers in Honor of Professor Jean Boisselier, published by Silpakorn University in Bangkok), for which she was both an editor and a contributor. She published as well articles on the Jain art of India and Cham art of Vietnam, and was a consultant for The Wisdom of the Buddha published by Harry N. Abrams in 1994.

For Natasha the art object was always given primacy, and she was renowned for her curatorial eye. Her influence went well beyond her publications as she gave opinions on quality and authenticity of Southeast Asian art.

Bonhams. 11 Sep 2012 1 p.m. New York. Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Art

Posté par Alain Truong à 09:43 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

Tags: Buddha, Thailand, copper alloy, 8th century, Eilenberg Buddha, Mon Dvaravati period, Ramayana, Sajnu, Sivalal, the 'third' Rasamanjari of Bhanu Dutta

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