Written by: Zhao Zhihan Ryan Chiu
Buddhist art has always been one of Bonhams's strengths. The multinational auction house has just held a special exhibition in Paris called "De matu Treasures I", bringing the famous Belgian antique dealer's collection of 64 pieces, mainly Buddha statues, and some Hindu statues.
As a result, only two lots were not sold, with a turnover rate of nearly 97%, and nearly €3.5 million (RMB 24.3 million). The leading artist is the Schist Buddha, from the ancient Indian country of Gandhara, exuding a strong Greek sculpture style, with a hammer of €450,000 and a commission of €567,000 (RMB 3.95 million).
There was also a small episode in the auction, where the 1st lot, the 10th-century Hindu Elephant God Stele fell for €60,000, but the buyer who was supposed to win the bid was unable to take home the favor - the famous Musée Guimet exercised the privilege of "intercepting the way" and included the statue in the collection.
Editor's note: The author previously mistakenly wrote the statue purchased by the museum as lot 26, and the article has now been corrected, and I apologize to all readers
Lot 1
Central India about the tenth century
Sandstone elephant god stele
(Purchased by Jimei Museum)
Height: 71.5 cm
Source: Claude Dematu, New York, tibet in 1967
Estimate: €60,000 - 80,000
Hammer drop price: €60,000
Realized price: €75,975
First, explain what really happened at the auction house.
After the auctioneer dropped the gavel for €60,000, a woman on the scene suddenly shouted "I pre-empt this lot on behalf of the Museum of Guimet", which means "I am acting on behalf of the Jimei Museum".
Originally, under French law, local public institutions had the right to win lots in a special way in the domestic auction. The condition is that the highest bid has been shouted out – i.e. the auctioneer has dropped the hammer , and the representative of the public institution, as the lady mentioned above, reads the statement. As for the final transaction price of the lot, it is still calculated according to the amount of the hammer itself.
The Gemme Museum, whose full name is the "Museum of Asian Art of Kyrgyzstan", is one of the top institutions for the collection of Asian art and artifacts, with Buddhist and Hindu artifacts being one of the key sections. The museum purchased this statue for the second time, which also proves that it has extraordinary value.
Oriental religious art is one of the key collections of the Jimei Museum
Originating from Hinduism, the ganesha is the god of wisdom, responsible for wealth, knowledge, commerce, and especially for those who create and travel. In terms of importance and popularity, among the thousands of Hindu gods, the ganesha is definitely ranked in the top three.
In today's parlance, the ganesha was a "second generation of god." There are three Hindu gods, Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Guardian, and Shiva of Destruction, symbolizing the cycle of birth and death in the universe. Because of the destruction and the intention of rebirth, and Shiva is in charge of reproduction and reproduction, his position is supreme. The ganesha was the beloved child of the Lord Shiva.
According to local mythology, the ganesha god, in order to record the great epic "Mahabharata", listened day and night to the extensive immortals and copied the records with a divine pen. But the epic is like a huge amount, and the pen is broken. The ganti then broke one of his ivory, dipped it in ink, and continued to copy, eventually becoming a great cause. Therefore, whether it is a sculpture or a portrait, the image of the ganesha is mostly missing an ivory, which is intentional, not damaged or forgotten by the artist.
Claude de Marteau is a famous Belgian antique dealer
"Gupta Buddha" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and "Statue of King Shiva" from John Rockefeller III's old collection
The "Nepal 13th Century Guanyin Statue" in the old collection of Ansiyuan, and the "Gandhara 3rd-4th Century Statue of Shakyamuni Buddha and Bodhisattva" that were once privately collected in Japan
The above-mentioned Buddha statues and all the lots in this special exhibition are from the Dematu Collection.
Claude de Marteau, a famous Belgian antique dealer, has mastered many masterpieces of Buddhist art. In terms of public collections, there is the "Gupta Buddha Statue" taken from him by The Met in New York, and the "Statue of King Shiva" (now in the Asia Society Museum) from the old collection of John D. Rockefeller III.
In terms of private collections, examples include the "13th-century Guanyin Statue of Nepal" by Robert Ellsworth, the godfather of Asian art, which was sold for US$8.22 million in 2015 at Christie's in New York; From the Japanese collection, the "Gandhara Statues of Shakyamuni Buddha and Bodhisattva in the 3rd to 4th Centuries" exhibited at the Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art and the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum were exchanged for US$6.63 million in 2020 at Christie's in New York.
Finally, I will introduce the top three deals for everyone.
Lot 26
Gandhara 3rd/4th century
Schist Buddha statue
(Deal Winner)
Height: 147.5 cm
Source: Claude de Matu, Brussels, before the 1970s
Estimate: €500,000 - 700,000
Hammer drop price: € 450,000
Price realised: €567,375
Located in the northern part of present-day Pakistan and connecting the borders of Afghanistan, Gandhara is one of the sixteen ancient Indian states, and in ancient times it was a bridge between East Asia and the Mediterranean world, thus becoming a melting pot of different cultures, arts and beliefs.
In the fourth century BC, Alexander the Great brought the art of Greek sculpture to Gandhara during his crusade. Later, gandhara culture spread to China in the first and second centuries, and slowly merged with China and the West, only to change from the original Greek style to the Buddha statue we see today.
Gandhara Buddha statues have Western features, such as deep eyes, high noses, thin lips, wavy curls, and even the carving method of clothing textures, which are very similar to Greek statues. The circle behind the Buddha statue is the "wheel", which is the symbol of the sun in early India, and later the Buddha statue was cast in metal, often called the "golden wheel".
Lot 30
Northeast India During the Pala period in the 12th century
Hi Kongo bronze statue
(Runner-up in Deals)
Height: 14.7 cm
Source: Claude de Matu, Brussels, before the 1970s
Estimate: €120,000 - 160,000
Hammer drop price: €260,000
Price realized: €327,975
In northeastern India, the birthplace of tantra, this bronze statue is cast here in the late Pala dynasty, and is one of the oldest surviving bronze statues of TheRapani. The bronze statue is exquisitely detailed and naturally flexible, casting a complex multi-armed, multi-headed Statue of King Kong and Selfless Buddha Mother into one.
The Joy Vajra, also known as the Blood Drinking King Kong or the Joyful Buddha, means the Great Freedom and Great Liberation attained through practice. This image is made of eight sides and sixteen arms and two bodies, with three eyes on each of the eight sides, and the expression is happy and fast. Six of the sides are located behind the main face, examining the parties, and the eighth side appears in the flame-like hair, directly below the cross-shaped vajra pestle. The thick red pigment applied to the hair has now been partially peeled off, revealing the original finely carved hair.
The four demon brakes trampled on the pedestal are death incarnations, indicating surrender to evil and ignorance, and supporting the statue of the Lord with their bodies.
Lot 25
Gandhara 3rd/4th century
Schist Buddha head
(3rd place in deals)
Height: 48 cm
Source: Claude de Matu, Brussels, before the 1970s
Estimate: €150,000 - 200,000
Hammer drop price: €220,000
Price realised: €277,575
Today's Buddha statues, most of them have protruding "buns" on the top of their heads, and legend has it that the bulging pieces of flesh on the top of the Buddha's head are born to wear a crown, which belongs to one of the "thirty-two phases" necessary for great people in Indian legends, and the higher the wisdom, the higher the "meat bun". Some scholars have refuted this view, believing that it is based on the ancient Indian custom of hair-pressing, and the Buddha statues of the Gandhara period confirm this.
Because of the harmony of culture, the image of the Buddha statue in China has gradually deviated from its original appearance, but the only constant is the nose, which is still very tall. To this day, many Buddha statues retain this Greek nose.
Auction summary
Auction house: Bonhams Paris
Dedicated: The Claude de Marteau Collection, Part I
Sale date: 14 June 2022
Number of lots: 64
Sold: 62
Unsold: 2
Sell-through rate: 96.8%
Total sale: €3,494,247.5