Lot 123

20th C. Cambodian Sandstone Durga - Mahishasuramardini, Slayer of Buffalo Demon

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Lot 123
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20th C. Cambodian Sandstone Durga - Mahishasuramardini, Slayer of Buffalo Demon
20th C. Cambodian Sandstone Durga - Mahishasuramardini, Slayer of Buffalo Demon
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20th C. Cambodian Sandstone Durga - Mahishasuramardini, Slayer of Buffalo Demon

Estimate: $4,000 - $6,000

Starting Bid: $2,000

(0 Bids)
by Artemis Fine Arts
August 6, 2026 9:00 AM MDT
Live Auction
686 S. Taylor Avenue
Suite 108
Louisville, CO, US 80027

Southeast Asia, Cambodia, Khmer revival, ca. 1900–1970 CE. A four-armed goddess rises serene above the very demon she has slain, the water buffalo Mahisha couchant at her feet, his swept horns and broad muzzle worked in low relief across the plinth. This is Durga in her most celebrated role, Mahishasuramardini, slayer of the buffalo demon, carved in sandstone after the grave frontal manner of early Cambodia. She stands with weight set evenly on both feet, hips squared, wearing the calm of the conqueror rather than the violence of the contest, for in the Khmer idiom her victory is told not by struggle but by simple presence above the vanquished. Engaged colonettes joined by a bar brace the figure, the time-honored scaffolding by which Khmer sculptors held an image fully in the round. Size: 16.3" W x 42.2" H x 8" D (41.4 cm W x 107.2 cm H x 20.3 cm D); on included custom stand: 16.3" W x 44.5" H x 9.75" D (41.4 cm W x 113.0 cm H x 24.8 cm D).

The myth she embodies is the gods' confession of their own limits. Mahisha, swollen with power won through long austerity, could be checked by neither Shiva nor Vishnu nor any single deity, and so the gods poured their massed energies into a woman and lent her their weapons, that she might wield all their powers at once. She carries here the attributes of Vishnu, the spoked wheel raised in one upper hand, the conch opposite, the borrowed armament that marks Durga as the sum of the divine assembly. Her tall cylindrical crown echoes the mukuta of Vishnu himself, and banded, scrolling curls frame a full and gently smiling face.

The work belongs to the twentieth century, a devotional carving in the venerable Cambodian manner, cut by a hand steeped in the canon of the temple goddesses. It asks to be read as an act of homage, the old iconography of Devi triumphant carried forward in living stone... the serene authority of the ancient pattern, newly made.

Provenance: private Studio City, California, USA collection

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Item # 197323

  • Condition: Some light surface wear, but, otherwise, intact and excellent with impressive detail.

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $299 $25
$300 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 $199,999 $10,000
$200,000 + $20,000