The Buddha calling the earth to witness

Object Details

• Label

  Six small ivory Buddhas were among the very first Southeast Asian objects that Charles Lang Freer collected. He purchased them in 1909 as a group at an auction of Southeast Asian art in New York.

  Seated with folded legs and hands in the earth-touching gesture of enlightenment (bhumisparsha mudra), the six Buddhas are relatively uniform in size and shape and were likely carved at the same time. They represent the moment when the historical Buddha calls the earth to witness as he achieves enlightenment. They may have been made in Laos, Thailand, or Cambodia. Their small scale and light material would have enabled them to be transported, and their find spot--purportedly in the vicinity of Angkor Wat--likely does not match their site of production.

• Provenance

  Unnamed Siamese official [1]

  From 1909 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased at sale, Collection of Siamese and Cambodian Antiquities, Curios and Relics, American Art Association, New York, NY, April 6, 1909 [2]

  From 1920

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

  Notes:

  [1] According to Curatorial Remark 5, Louise Cort, February 18, 2002, "The catalogue of the sale of Siamese and Cambodian objects (6 April 1909) noted that they had been accumulated over a period of thirty-five years by a Siamese official." See also, the object record for F1909.48, Curatorial Remark 5, H. E. Buckman, 1964, wherein is provided additional provenance information for several objects acquired at this same American Art Association sale.

  [2] See note 1. See also, Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 75, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

  [3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Previous custodian or owner

  American Art Association (established 1883) (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Thailand, Laos, or Cambodia

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Sculpture

• Restrictions and Rights

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1800s, 1890s

• Name

  American Art Association, Freer, Charles Lang, buddha

• Place

  Cambodia, Thailand, Laos

• Topic

  Gilding, South Asian and Himalayan Art, Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Ivory, Lan Sang period (1271 - 1707), Bangkok period (1782 - 1932 ), Bhumisparsha mudra, Post-Angkor period (1431 - 1863)

• Culture

  Buddhists, Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Object Type

  Sculpture