Noranair Figures

Thailand, (Bangkok style, Ratanakosin period), second half of the 19th century

Height: 49 cm
Width: 15.5 cm
Depth: 18.5 cm

A pair of lacquered and gilded bronze figures of Noranair, each facing forwards, standing in a position of worship and on a square wooden pedestal base.

These intricately cast gilded bronze figures are depicted in formal static poses, leaning slightly forward with hands clasped together. Each rounded face commands a calm and serene expression, with eyes half-closed and the faint traces of a smile. They wear tall tapering crowns each rising to a thin point and decorated with stepped sections of repeated jagged forms. Each torso is finely decorated with jewelled necklaces, armlets, belly button jewels and bazubands. Winged epaulets grace each shoulder. Both figures have circular breastplates, but otherwise their torsos remain bare of clothing. Intricate dhoti-style skirts envelop their waists and are decorated with large boteh-shaped hanging panels. Curvaceous tapered legs give way to elaborate winged sandals to their feet. A long S-shaped tail ending in a flame finial rises from their rears up to each neck. The figures are beautifully gilded in a rich gold hue, with traces of red lacquer emerging in places.

Noranair or Absorn Si as she can also be known as, and her male counterpart Norasingh, are half-human, half-lion figures which inhabit the Himaphan forest, a mythical area located in the Himalayan mountains below the heavens of the gods. The Norasingh may be a Thai adaption of Narasimha, the lion incarnation of Vishnu. Similar figures may be found at the Wat Pra temple in Bangkok. Please see col. pl. IXb. in Natalie V. Robinson, Sino-Thai Ceramics in the National Museum, Bangkok, Thailand, and in Private Collections, 1982; and Muang Boran Journal, vol. 15, no. 4, Oct.-Dec. 1989, p. 86.

Provenance:

The Curios Furniture & Miscellaneous Utensils & Hardware Merchants & Employees Association Hong Kong Kowloon, 370 Queen’s Road, 3rd Floor, Hong Kong. Purchased on 15th May 1968, invoice number: C21846.
Ray Velazquez, Planet Hollywood, Spain
Spink and Son, London, purchased on 21st November 1996, invoice number: SEA 11343.