Enquiry about object: 5362
Srivajaya Cast Bronze Image of Four-Armed Kubera
Palembang region, Sumatra, Indonesia 8th-9th century
height (without stand): 12.2cm, height (with stand): 15cm, weight (without stand): 757g
Provenance
private collection, London, UK.
This exceptional image of Kubera (Jambhala), the deity associated with wealth and prosperity, has been finely cast in bronze and shows the deity as typically corpulent and laden with jewellery and with other fine detailing.
Kubera is shown seated in lalitasana, with the pendant leg resting on a minor, separate double-petalled lotus pedestal. He has four arms (most early Indonesian images of Kubera show the deity with two rather than four arms.) The front right hand holds a citron or lime. The front left holds a mongoose by the throat which vomits a string of jewels. The upper arms hold a conch and a lotus bud. He wears a ritual band (udarabandha) around his fat belly.
Kubera was incorporated into both the Hindu and Buddhist pantheons.
The figure retains crisp features, and has a dark, varying patina consistent with antiquity. It is a particularly fine, museum-quality example. It sits on a high-quality, custom-made stand.
See here for a related Srivajaya object.
References
Fontein, J., et al, The Sculpture of Indonesia, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1990.
Kempers, A.J.B., Ancient Indonesian Art, CPJ ven der Peet (Amsterdam), 1959.
Lerner, M. & S. Kossak, The Lotus Transcendent: Indian and Southeast Asian Art from the Samuel Eilenberg Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1991.
Lunsingh Scheurleer, P., & M.J. Klokke, Ancient Indonesian Bronzes: A Catalogue of the Exhibition in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam with a General Introduction, E.J. Brill, 1988.
