**First Time At Auction**

Southeast Asia, Cambodia, Khmer Empire, 12th to 13th century CE. A beautiful red sandstone sculpture of the deity, Brahma, carved to be viewed in the round with 4 faces encircling the conical mukuta headdress. He can be shown as multi-headed with sometimes 3 or 4 heads. These four faces are positioned to view all cardinal directions as a symbol of his omnipotence, and represent sacred knowledge from the 4 Vedas. Brahma is regarded as the creator of the world. Although a major god and highly regarded in Southeast Asia, he did not gain a wide cult worship and few temples are dedicated to Brahma, but statues and images of this god are often incorporated into architecture and art when depicting other Hindu gods. Brahma coexists alongside Buddhist practices and is regarded as protective god of a heavenly realm. Worshippers believe that each side offers a different blessing and generally leave an offering in front of each face. Size: 6" Diameter x 11" H (15.2 cm x 27.9 cm); 16.5" H (41.9 cm) on included custom

Khmer art shifted away from Indian styles in the 7th century CE to encompass its own framework; one example of this seen here is that this statue is carved in the round, rather than as a relief on a stela, which was common with Indian and Javanese Hindu and Buddhist sculptures that previously influenced Cambodian art. From this, we can infer that Khmer sculptors would have desired their artwork to be viewed from all sides, and thus placed in the center of temples rather than against a wall.

The famous Khmer temple, Bayon, built in the late 12th to 13th century in Angkor Thom, Cambodia, has distinctive 4-sided towers each carved with the face of Brahma - similar in style to this sandstone carving.

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Provenance: private Hawaii collection; ex-Sylvia and Philip Chaplain Collection, New Hampshire, USA.

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#177465

Fragment of a larger piece as shown. Surface weathering and chips and abrasions to high pointed areas, headdress and noses. Overall great condition. Mounted on a custom base, and corners attached to the head are chipped.