Standing Buddha and tabernacle

Object Details

• Description

  Standing equipoise over a plinth, the crowned Buddha raises both hands in abhayamudra, his ankle-length robe falling to the sides. He is enshrined within a flaming aureole with naga terminates, a bodhi tree overhead laced with serpentine vines. Cast in five parts: Buddha, base, plinth with frieze, backplate, Bodhi tree finial. With a green patina overall.

• Provenance

  By 1975-1976

  Peter Marks Works of Art, New York method of acquisition unknown [1]

  From 1976

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchase from Peter Marks Works of Art, New York [2]

  Notes:

  [1] Peter Marks Works of Art presented the sculpture to the Freer Gallery of Art for consideration in January 1975, see letter from Peter Marks of Peter Marks Works of Art to Dr. Harold P. Stern of the Freer Gallery of Art, February 9, 1975, copy in object file.

  [2] Peter Marks Works of Art presented the object to the Freer Gallery in 1975, however the Gallery did not purchase it until December 1976. Before the purchase, the Gallery corresponded with the Royal Thai Fine Arts Department in Bangkok, for advice on this acquisition. The Chief of the Division of National Museums, Chira Chongkol thanked the Gallery for informing the Thai government of this possible purchase but reported that they did not know "how or when the piece was taken out of the country." They also confirmed that the sculpture was "not from [their] museum collection." See letter from Chira Chongkol, Division of National Museums to Mr. Thomas Lawton, Freer Gallery of Art, December 30, 1975, copy in object file. The Freer Gallery of Art finalized the purchase of the sculpture on December 8, 1976, see annotated receipt from Peter Marks Works of Art to Freer Gallery of Art, December 1, 1976, copy in object file.

  Research updated March 17, 2022

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Encountering the Buddha: Art and Practice Across Asia (October 14, 2017 to February 6, 2022)

  Arts of the Indian Subcontinent and the Himalayas (October 16, 2004 to January 3, 2016)

  Hindu and Buddhist Art (April 1, 1982 to July 18, 1983)

  Hindu and Buddhist Art (January 28, 1981 to September 24, 1981)

  A Decade of Discovery: Selected Acquisitions 1970-1980 (November 9, 1979 to May 22, 1980)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Peter Marks Works of Art, Inc. (active 1960-2002)

• Origin

  Thailand

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Sculpture

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1100s, 1200s

• Name

  Peter Marks Works of Art, Inc., buddha

• Place

  Thailand

• Topic

  Art, Lopburi period (900 - 1300), Bodhi tree, Southeast Asian Art, Abhaya mudra

• Culture

  Buddhists, Southeast Asians

• Object Type

  Sculpture