The sale on March 28 includes some fine large sculptures - notably a Gandharan schist head of Siddhartha (Lot 119 ) from around the 3rd century AD, the bearded face shown in an emaciated state with deeply recessed eyes and hollow cheeks, and set into a nimbus, height 46cm.
Guy Earl-Smith says the piece closely resembles one sold at Christie’s New York in 1999 for $US18,000, though the one he is offering on behalf of an Australian vendor is far larger and has a serious provenance. His estimate on it is $20,000 to $25,000.
A Gandharan stupa in schist, (Lot 124 ) sculpted in four sections decorated with classic lotus motifs, the spire with tapering parasols, is another unusual item, estimated at $5000 plus.
There is also a slender Chinese limestone sculpture of Kuanyin (Lot 163 ) said to date from the Sung dynasty circa 1000AD. It’s 74cm high and estimated at $10,000 plus.
Not everything is priced in the thousands. Attractive small pieces abound. For instance, a beautifully patinated Dayak carved stopper from central Kalimantan (Lot 252 ) just 8cm long is estimated at $150 plus). Other Dayak items include a carved gaming board 113cm long and a chief‘s stool fashioned as a beast with inlaid bone eyes. There are several ancestor sculptures from the islands of Timor, Flores and Sumba including a Flores stone sculpture of a horse and rider.
Typically for such pieces, the provenance of most is unknown. So where do they come from? No less a personage than the director of the Art Gallery of NSW, Edmund Capon, was once heard to mutter, at an Earl-Smith viewing, “where on earth does he get this stuff from?” Capon‘s enduring interest in Asian and eastern art is epitomised, of course, by the popular Asian Gallery at the Art Gallery in Sydney’s Domain.
At this auction, many works are described as “from an Australian collection”. Earl-Smith explains this does not signify one particular vendor but is more to reassure buyers the material is from local collections rather than being brought in from overseas. He says more than 50 vendors are involved, many proffering just two or three items.
Earl-Smith, born in India and raised in France and Britain, moved into this exotic and esoteric art area after studying archaeology and anthropology in the US and starting his auction career running tribal art sales at the Sydney firm Lawsons.