Lot 66. A sandstone torso of a male deity, Cambodia, Baphuon style, 11th century; 98cm (38 5/8in) high. (2). Estimate 50 000 € - 80 000. Sold for €69,675. photo Fabrice Gousset.

The elegant elongated torso with a sampot rendered in narrow vertical pleats around the right leg and spreading across the left in broader fan-like manner. The fabric is drawn between the thighs and arranged on the verso in a fan-like fold that rises from beneath the belt. The observation of the garment by the artist is remarkable in the manner in which it is secured with a delicately depicted overlapping sash on the left side and is pulled under the right side with a fold protruding artfully from the top and the end draped in a scabbard-like fold, stand.

Provenance: Robert Rousset, Paris (1901-1981), acquired from Peng Seng, Bangkok, 27 April 1965
Jean-Pierre Rousset, Paris (1936-2021).

Published, Illustrated and Exhibited: Sherman Lee, Ancient Cambodian Sculpture, Asia House Gallery, New York, October 1969, p.50, no.12.

Note: This large torso of an unidentified male sandstone deity presents all the characteristics of the Baphuon style. Departing from the earlier modelling focused on power and plumpness, the emergences of tendency to greater abstraction with slender and more attenuated representation of the human form. This is especially evident in the more naturalistic treatment of the torso tapering to narrow hips. The most notable departure was the new fashion of sampot that dominated the Baphuon sculptural style that drew upon the Banteay Srei but adopts the pleated fabric.

Compare with an a closely related example in M.Brand and C.Phoeurn, in the The Age of Angkor: Treasures from the National Museum of Cambodia, Melbourne, 1992, p.74.

Ce grand torse d'une divinité masculine non identifiée en grès présente toutes les caractéristiques du style Baphuon. S'écartant du modelage antérieur axé sur la puissance et la rondeur, on observe l'émergence d'une tendance à une plus grande abstraction avec une représentation plus élancée et plus affinée de la forme humaine. Ceci est particulièrement évident dans le traitement plus naturaliste du torse accentué par des hanches étroites. Le changement le plus notable est la nouvelle mode du sampot qui domine le style sculptural de Baphuon, inspiré de celui de Banteay Srei, mais adoptant le tissu plissé.

Comparé avec un exemple très proche dans M.Brand et C.Phoeurn, The Age of Angkor: Treasures from the National Museum of Cambodia, Melbourne, 1992, p.74.

Bonhams. The Robert and Jean-Pierre Rousset Collection of Asian Art: A Century of Collecting - Part 1. Paris, 25 october 2022.