Xth century, Trà Kiêu style. Stone. H. 40.6 cm. Honolulu Academy of Arts. Purchase 1954 (HAA acc #1919.1).

This torso of a female dancer cornes from the famous Trà Kiêu pedestal known as the « pedestal of the dancers » which must have originally been about 3 m wide and 1.15 m high. Unfortunately, it was found so broken that it could not be reconstructed. Nevertheless, each fragment, whether a head or a torso, has its importance in identifying the features, posture, garment, and jewelry of the figurai style. J. Boisselier so admired the sway of a very similar torso from the pedestal, which has suffered almost identical breakage, that he published it (Boisselier 1963 a : Fig. 99), concluding that « such mutilated torso of a dancer can be considered the masterpiece of Cham statuary ».

"Some Remarkable Cham sculptures in American Museums" Natasha Eilenberg, Robert L. Brown

 

 

 

Article de "La Lettre de la SACHA" n°6, décember 1999, page 8.