9th-11th century AD. A carved black stone four-armed standing figure of Vishnu with rearmost right hand raised, wearing a simple draped sanghati to hips with serene smile, elongated ears and jatamukata headdress formed from matted and twisted locks of hair; mounted on a custom-made stand for display. See Van Beek, S., and Tettoni, L.I., The Arts of Thailand, Hong Kong, 1986, pp.52-57, for similar examples and discussion.52 kg total, 104cm including stand (45"). Property of an East Sussex gentleman; from his private collection formed between 1983 and 1990; formerly in a South East London collection formed in the 1970s; accompanied by geological report No. TL3250 by geology consultant Dr R. L. Bonewitz; this lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by AIAD certificate number no.157951-10042. Vishnu is a principal Hindu deity. He manifests through numerous avatars in order to keep humankind from harm, although not all avatars of Vishnu are benevolent. Along with Brahma (creation) and Shiva (destruction), Vishnu (maintenance) is one of three gods of the Trimurti, a union of the three cosmic functions of creation, maintenance and destruction. Vishnu is often depicted holding a Kaumodaki (mace), chakra, conch and lotus in one of his four hands.