316 - AN UMA SANDSTONE TORSO, CAMBODIA, ANGKOR PERIOD, BAPHUON STYLE ,11TH CENTURY

AN UMA SANDSTONE TORSO, CAMBODIA, ANGKOR PERIOD, BAPHUON STYLE ,11TH CENTURY Dimensions: Height 105 cm Wide 37 cm Depth 20 cm Weight: Approx. 130 Kg This finely carved sandstone torso represents Uma, consort of Shiva, embodying idealized feminine beauty as conceived in Khmer art. The figure is depicted with a slender waist, softly rounded hips, and the distinctive long sampot skirt of the Baphuon style, meticulously incised with vertical pleats and secured by a richly ornamented belt with hanging pendants. The torso, though fragmentary, conveys a powerful sense of grace and monumentality. The Baphuon style, named after the great temple mountain at Angkor, is characterized by heightened elegance, subtle modeling of the body, and elaborate treatment of textiles and jewelry. This work illustrates the extraordinary skill of Khmer sculptors in combining divine idealization with human naturalism. Figures of Uma were typically enshrined within temples dedicated to Shiva, underscoring her role as mother goddess and personification of fertility and prosperity. The present sculpture, despite the loss of the head and arms, retains remarkable surface detail and the harmonious proportions typical of the style.