NEW YORK, NY.- On March 20, concluding Asian Art Week, Christie's will offer a single owner collection, Highlights from the Star Collection: From India to Indonesia followed by Indian and Southeast Asian Art. Combined, the two sales will offer a superb selection of over 200 lots of sculpture, paintings, ritual objects, and works of art from India, Tibet, Nepal and Southeast Asia.

Highlights of the Star Collection: From India to Indonesia
The day begins with the single owner sale Highlights of the Star Collection: From India to Indonesia, comprised of 21 exceptional sculptures from an expansive geographical range. The most prominent sculpture is an important buff sandstone figure of Sachika, India, Rajasthan, dated to 1179 (estimate: $200,000-300,000), a finely-detailed carving of the goddess standing with one foot atop a buffalo as her lion bites into its hindquarters.

A gray schist figure of a winged Atlas, Gandhara, 2nd/3rd century (estimate: $120,000-180,000), is of particular interest as it was recently rediscovered; its counterpart is currently in the collection of the Norton Simon Museum. Additional highlights include a gilt copper figure of Padmapani, Nepal, 14th century (estimate:
$150,000-180,000) a superbly executed and graceful example of a Nepalese bronze sculpture of the Malla period; and a bronze head of Buddha, Thailand, Ayutthaya Style, 15th century (estimate: $50,000-70,000), portrays a well cast head with an ovoid face in a serene expression.

Indian and Southeast Asian Art
The highlight of the sale is the large and important bronze group of Shiva and Uma as Somaskanda, South India, Tamilnadu, Chola Period, 13th century (estimate: $600,000-800,000). The bronze couple is superbly executed with graceful modeling and careful attention paid to details of adornment, including the jewelry, the diamond pattern on the base, his battle-ax and her tiara, the richly embroidered bolster beneath Uma’s knee and the striated fur and craned neck of Shiva’s deer. This work has been on loan to the Minneapolis Institute of Art from 1953 to 2008 and is in excellent state of preservation.

Other fine Indian art to be offered is a bronze figure of Vishnu, South India, Tamilnadu, 12th century (estimate: $200,000-300,000), once in a collection of Governor Louis Bonvin, who oversaw the French Establishments of India from 1938-1945; a bronze figure of Parvati, South India, Tamilnadu, 13th century (estimate: $200,000-300,000), a large example on an elaborate three-tiered base; a green stone figure of Surya, India, Rajasthan, circa 9th century (estimate: $180,000-250,000), formerly on loan in the Völkerkundemuseum, Heidelberg from 1984-2008; and a painting of a Lokapurusha, India, Rajasthan, Bikaner, circa 1775 (estimate: $6,000-8,000), depicting the correlation between man and the universe in a geometric figure.

The sale comprises a superb group of Indian miniatures highlighted by A painting of a princess observing fireworks in the Moonlight, India, Oudh, Mughal Period, circa 1775 (estimate: $70,000-90,000), an extremely detailed night scene illustrated with firecrackers and illuminations; A drawing of Raja Balwant Dev Singh smoking a huqqa, India, Jasrota, circa 1750, by Nainsukh of Guler (estimate: $25,000-35,000); and an illustration from the BhagavataPurana, Nepal, circa 1775 (estimate: $25,000-35,000), which chronicles the ten avatars of Lord Vishnu, each of whom must save the world from danger, destroy the wicked and protect the virtuous.

Important sculptures include a monumental gray sandstone figure of a Dvarapala, Khmer, Koh Ker style, 10th century (estimate: $180,000-250,000), imbued with a heightened sense of movement and a suppleness of form; and a gilt bronze figure of Manjushri, Mongolia, Zanabazar School, 18th century (estimate: $8,000-12,000), decorated with his trademark sword and a gold book on a lotus.