Bonhams. The Robert and Jean-Pierre Rousset Collection of Asian Art: A Century of Collecting - Part 1. Paris, 25 october 2022.
A sandstone figure of a kneeling Dikpalaka, Cambodia, Baphuon style, 11th century
Lot 65. A sandstone figure of a kneeling Dikpalaka, Cambodia, Baphuon style, 11th century; 35.5cm (14in) high. (2). Sold for €24,225 (Estimate € 15,000-20,000). Photo Fabrice Gousset.
Characteristic of Baphuon period the hair is arranged in a rounded sphere of braids and a conforming topknot secured by a string of rudraksha beads. His face with delicate features and fleshy bifid lower lip. He kneels upon a lotus platform wearing a pleated sampot with a fish-tail tie at the back, stand.
Provenance: Swiss private collection, circa 1925 (by repute)
French private collection
Loudmer auction, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 18 December 1996, lot 277
Jean-Pierre Rousset, Paris (1936-2021), acquired at the above sale.
Note: Dikpalaka, are also known as Lokpala (the worldly guardians). In Southeast Asia, the depiction of Dikpalaka and Navagriha in Khmer art was usually presented in the form of nine-deity panels. These included four deities associated with planets: Surya, Chandra, Rahu and Ketu, and then the five Dikpala: Indra, Kubera, Yama, Varuna and Agni.
It is likely that this Dikpalaka was from a sculptural mandala, the circular arrangement of Hindu sacred objects, with a principal god at the centre. The well-defined vertical third-eye would indicate affiliation with Shiva, but in the absence of a defined attribute in his remaining hand or the vehicle that would been place below, the designation is not clear. A closely related figure in the National Museum Phnom Phen (N.Dalsheimer, L'art du Cambodge ancien, Paris 2001, p.136, no.58) in the same posture and sampot style is described as Shiva. Also, compare the facial type with an example in the Musee Guimet, Paris (MG 18949).
A unique feature of this figure is the presence of a skeletal defect on his back to create the impression of a 'hunchback'. This is a very rare representation of this human defect that is shared with a small number of examples. For a full discussion and examples from Ankor area, see L.Malleret, "Bossus et Nains dans la sculpture en Extrême-Orient," in Arts asiatiques, vol.20, 1969, pp.121-133, pls.III-IV.