Standing female divinity

Object Details

• Label

  With a slender waist and stoic face, the goddess stands facing frontally with her arms poised at her sides. Her right hand is turned down with fingers delicately curled as if picking a flower, and her upturned left palm may originally have held a lotus bud. The lotus attribute suggests this figure represents Lakshmi, the goddess most closely associated with the Hindu god Vishnu. The figure's delicate proportions, low-slung sampot with aligned pleats terminating in a fishtail fold, as well as the flat profile, large crown, and pointed chignon cover, indicate a twelfth-century date. This was the era in which the great monument of Angkor Wat (ca. 1150, dedicated to Vishnu) was constructed, and sculptures of goddesses proliferated throughout its sanctums and across the temple walls.

• Provenance

  From at least 1968-1987

  Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987), method of acquisition unknown [1]

  From 1987

  Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, gift of Dr. Arthur M. Sackler [2]

  Notes:

  [1] See the “Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Gift Inventory,” number L68.13.21, copy in object file. In 1968, Arthur M. Sackler loaned the sculpture to the Brooklyn Museum, where the museum assigned it the loan number of “L68.13.21.”

  [2] Pursuant to the agreement between Dr. Arthur M. Sackler and the Smithsonian Institution, dated July 28, 1982, legal title of the donated objects was transferred to the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery on September 11, 1987.

  Research updated October 14, 2022

• Collection

  Arthur M. Sackler Collection

• Exhibition History

  Sculpture of South Asia and the Himalayas (May 4, 1988 to July 9, 2017)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987)

• Origin

  Cambodia

• Credit Line

  Gift of Arthur M. Sackler

• 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

  1100s, 1200s

• Name

  Sackler, Arthur M.

• Place

  Cambodia

• Topic

  Art, Southeast Asian Art, Woman, Stone, Angkor period (802 - 1431)

• Culture

  Southeast Asians

• Object Type

  Sculpture