Khmer
Cambodia, Southeast Asia
Circa 1200
Sandstone
8 3/4 x 8 1/2 inches (22.2 x 21.6 cm)
Provenance: Joel Greene collection, San Francisco
A carved sandstone head preserved as a fragment, with one side of the face intact and a diagonal loss running from the crown through the brow and temple to the bridge of the nose. The surviving features are an almond eye beneath a raised arching brow, a broad cheek, a full mouth lifting at one corner, and a long pendulous earlobe pierced through and hanging almost to the jaw. Incised lines cross the top of the head, marking a hairline or the lower edge of a headdress.
The stone is a close grained sandstone worked to a smooth polished surface across the face, set against the coarse weathered break at the loss. Distended earlobes of this kind follow an Indic convention carried into Southeast Asian sculpture, where they mark a figure of religious rank. The modelling is broad and still, the lids and lips defined by shallow carved edges rather than sharp cutting.
Losses are confined to the one side of the face and the bridge of the nose, and the break surface is stable with no later filling visible in the images. The remaining surface carries an even weathered patina consistent with long burial, with mineral traces held in the recesses of the ear and mouth. The head is presented on a custom dark wood block stand.
Documentation:
CIRAM certificate
Thai export permit
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Khmer
Cambodia, Southeast Asia
Circa 1200
Sandstone
8 3/4 x 8 1/2 inches (22.2 x 21.6 cm)
Provenance: Joel Greene collection, San Francisco
A carved sandstone head preserved as a fragment, with one side of the face intact and a diagonal loss running from the crown through the brow and temple to the bridge of the nose. The surviving features are an almond eye beneath a raised arching brow, a broad cheek, a full mouth lifting at one corner, and a long pendulous earlobe pierced through and hanging almost to the jaw. Incised lines cross the top of the head, marking a hairline or the lower edge of a headdress.
The stone is a close grained sandstone worked to a smooth polished surface across the face, set against the coarse weathered break at the loss. Distended earlobes of this kind follow an Indic convention carried into Southeast Asian sculpture, where they mark a figure of religious rank. The modelling is broad and still, the lids and lips defined by shallow carved edges rather than sharp cutting.
Losses are confined to the one side of the face and the bridge of the nose, and the break surface is stable with no later filling visible in the images. The remaining surface carries an even weathered patina consistent with long burial, with mineral traces held in the recesses of the ear and mouth. The head is presented on a custom dark wood block stand.
Documentation:
CIRAM certificate
Thai export permit
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
