Head of the Buddha

Object Details

• Provenance

  From at least 1946

  Kelman Joseph Ptasnik (1890-1966), New York, from at least May 1946 [1]

  From 1946 to 1951

  Eduard von der Heydt (1882-1964), Ascona, Switzerland, purchased from K. J. Ptasnik in May 1946 and lent to the Buffalo Museum of Science, Buffalo, New York [2]

  1951

  US Government vested Eduard von der Heydt's property under the provisions of "Trading with the Enemy Act" by vesting order, dated August 21, 1951 [3]

  From 1964 to 1973

  National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, from March 1964 [4]

  From 1973

  Freer Gallery of Art, transferred from National Museum of Natural History in 1973 [5]

  Notes:

  [1] See "Catalogue of the Von der Heydt Loan to the Buffalo Museum of Science: Loan Material from Baron Von der Heydt, as of March 1949," where the sculpture is documented together with Head of the Buddha, FSC-S-16 under an inventory card no. 4670, copy in object file.

  According to information on the inventory card, Eduard von der Heydt purchased the two sculptures from Kelman Joseph Ptasnik in May 1946.

  Ptasnik was related through his wife to Aaron Vecht (1886-1965), the owner of Art Gallery A. Vecht in Amsterdam and one of von der Heydt's main dealers.

  Around 1939 Vecht sent a portion of his gallery's stock to London and New York where Ptasnik was responsible for organizing storage for sent objects [information kindly provided by Constant Vecht, Aaron Vecht's grandson and director of Kunstzalen A. Vecht, in email correspondence of January 27, 2009, in object file].

  Head of the Buddha, FSC-S-16, purchased by von der Heydt from Ptasnik together with F1978.35, was previously owned by Vecht and was exhibited in United States in 1939 (see provenance record for FSC-S-16), therefore it is possible that Ptasnik obtained F1978.35 also from Vecht or acted on his behalf.

  [2] See "Catalogue of the Von der Heydt Loan to the Buffalo Museum of Science" cited in note 1.

  [3] See Vesting Order No. 18344, August 21, 1951, Office of Alien Property, Department of Justice.

  Eduard von der Heydt exhausted all the legal remedies against the forfeiture of his property provided to him by the Trading with the Enemy Act.

  [4] Attorney General, Robert Kennedy authorized transfer of the von der Heydt collection from Buffalo Museum of Science to the custody of the Smithsonian Institution in March 1964. The collection was transferred to the National Museum of Natural History.

  In 1966 US Congress legislated transferring the title of the von der Heydt collection to the Smithsonian Institution, see Public Law 89-503, 80 Stat. 287, July 18, 1966. The sculpture was accessioned under no. 448107, see "Smithsonian Office of Anthropology Accession Data," copy in object file.

  [5] The sculpture was among 13 objects in the von der Heydt collection transferred from National Museum of Natural History to the Freer Gallery of Art, see "Smithsonian Institution Intramural Transfer of Specimens" memorandum, dated January 29, 1973, copy in object file.

  The sculpture was accessioned to the Freer Gallery Study Collection under no. FSC-S-17 and subsequently transferred to the permanent collection in August 1978.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

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

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

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

  Untitled Exhibition, South Corridor (March 6, 1981 to May 7, 1984)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Baron Eduard von der Heydt (1882-1964)

  National Museum of Natural History, Department of Anthropology, Smithsonian Institution

• Origin

  Java, Indonesia

• Credit Line

  Transfer from the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

• Type

  Sculpture

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

  The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  800s, 700s

• Name

  von der Heydt, Eduard, buddha, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Anthropology, Smithsonian Institution

• Place

  Java, Indonesia

• Topic

  Art, Shailendra period (ca. 750 - ca. 850), Southeast Asian Art, Stone, Ushnisha

• Culture

  Buddhists, Southeast Asians

• Object Type

  Sculpture