Buddha Sheltered by Naga

Object Details

• Label

  Nagas are potent, auspicious symbols throughout South and Southeast Asia. The image of the Buddha seated on a coiled serpent gained traction in Cambodia, where nagas represent the bridge between the earthy and transcendent realms. Here, the Buddha aligns his spine with the serpent's upright body, his head sheltered beneath the multiheaded cobra hood.

• Provenance

  ?-1942

  Yamanaka & Co., New York, method of acquisition unknown [1]

  1942-1944

  United States of America, Alien Property Custodian, formally vested the sculpture on June 16, 1942 [2]

  1944

  Sale, New York, Parke-Bernet Galleries Inc., "By Order of the Alien Property Custodian of the United States, Liquidation of the Entire Stock of The New York Store of Yamanaka & Co. Inc.: Oriental Art, Part I," May 24-26, 1944, lot 25 [3]

  By 1961-?

  Heeramaneck Galleries, New York, NY, method of acquisition unknown [4]

  ?-1995

  John B. Bunker (1926 2005) and Emma (Cadwalader) Bunker (1930 2021), method of acquisition unknown [5]

  From 1995

  Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, gift of John B. Bunker and Emma C. Bunker [6]

  Notes:

  [1] See note 3.

  [2] See "Vesting Order No. 25, June 16, 1942, Office of Alien Property," in RG 103, Entry P 42, Department of Justice, Civil Division, Office of the Director of Alien Property, Folder D-39-602, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD.

  [3] See Parke-Bernet Galleries Inc., "By Order of the Alien Property Custodian of the United States, Liquidation of the Entire Stock of The New York Store of Yamanaka & Co. Inc.: Oriental Art, Part I," [auction catalogue](New York, May 24-26, 1944) lot 25, illustrated. The work is described as "Stone Head of Buddha with braided and pointed headdress, before massive protective canopy of the Nagamucalinda, fragmentary. On black Belgian marble stepped plinth."

  [4] See Asia House Gallery loan agreement, Khmer Sculpture exhibition, 30 November 1961 -- 28 January 1962 and The Asia Society, Khmer Exhibition List of Lenders, Box 5, Folders 59--60, Asia Society Exhibition Files, Khmer Sculpture, Series 8, Rockefeller Archive Center, Sleepy Hallow, NY, copies in object file. The work featured in the exhibition "Khmer Sculpture" at the Asia House Gallery in New York and was published as an "Anonymous Loan." See Ad Reinhardt, "Khmer Sculpture" [exhibition catalogue] (New York, NY: Asia House Gallery, 1961), 38 39. The object was listed as an "Anonymous Loan."

  Nasli M. (1902-1971) and Alice N. Heeramaneck (1910-1993) owned Heeramaneck Galleries. They were dealers and collectors of Pre-Columbian and Asian art based. Nasli Heeramaneck began his career as a dealer in Paris during the 1920s and relocated to New York, NY in 1927, where he married Alice Arvine, an American portrait painter from New Haven, CT in 1939. Nasli founded Heeramaneck Galleries in New York, NY by 1929. He began to retire in 1964 and liquidated some of the gallery's stock at auction through Parke-Barnet, New York in 1964 and 1965. Many objects from the Heeramaneck collection were either purchased or donated to American museums. Items from their collection may be found in The British Museum; the Cleveland Museum of Art; Los Angeles County Museum; The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; National Museum of New Delhi; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts; and Yale University.

  [5] See note 4. Emma C. Bunker was an art historian, specializing in the art of China and Cambodia.

  [6] John B. Bunker and Emma C. Bunker donated the sculpture to the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in 1995. See Deed of Gift, copy in object file.

  Research updated August 30, 2023.

• Collection

  National Museum of Asian Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Pan-Smithsonian Institution installation, The Commons, Smithsonian "Castle" Building (June 17, 2004 to February 9, 2023)

  Khmer Sculpture (1961)

• Previous custodian or owner

  John B. Bunker and Emma C. Bunker

  Nasli M. (1902-1971) and Alice N. Heeramaneck (1910-1993) (1902-1971 and 1910-1993)

  Office of Alien Property Custodian (1917-1942)

  Yamanaka and Co. 山中商会 (1917-1965)

• Origin

  Cambodia

• Credit Line

  Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John B. Bunker

• Type

  Sculpture

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1900s, 1990s

• Name

  Bunker, John B., buddha, Office of Alien Property Custodian, Heeramaneck, Nasli M. and Alice N., Yamanaka and Co.

• Place

  Cambodia

• Topic

  Modern period (1910 - present), South Asian and Himalayan Art, Art, Stone, Ushnisha

• Culture

  Buddhists, Himalayan peoples, South Asians, Naga (South Asian people)

• Object Type

  Sculpture