Tibetan Pillar

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At A Glance

Period

First Half of the 20th Century
Geography

Central Tibet
Material

Wood and pigments
Dimension

H x W x D (approximate assembled dimensions): 224.1 × 159.2 × 18.4 cm (88 1/4 × 62 11/16 × 7 1/4 in)
Accession Number

S2023.5.1a-c
EDAN ID

edanmdm:fsg_S2023.5.1a-c

Object Details

Description

A T-shaped structural post and lintel pillar. The square column tapers slightly towards the top. It is painted red with widely spaced cream-colored vertical lines that terminate in carved and polychrome vegetal forms. The separately carved lintels are elaborately painted with auspicious Buddhist protectors and floral motifs. The back faces of each pillar are more plainly colored. The socles at the base of the pillars are missing.
Provenance

From 20th c.

An unidentified family in Central Tibet [1]

? - to ca. 2000-2003

Unidentified dealer in Kathmandu, Nepal [2]

Ca. 2000-2003

Luca Corona, Kathmandu, Nepal, purchased from an unknown dealer in Kathmandu, Nepal sometime between 2000 and 2003 [3]

Ca. 2000-2003 - 2023

Seret & Sons, Santa Fe, NM, purchased from Luca Corona, Kathmandu, Nepal sometime between 2000 and 2003 [4]

2023

Alice S. Kandell, purchased from Seret & Sons, Santa Fe, NM [5]

From 2023

National Museum of Asian Art, gift of Alice S. Kandell, New York, NY [6]

Notes:

[1] According to Luca Corona, the pair of pillars (S2023.52.1a-c and S2023.5.2a-c) likely came from a private home of a wealthy family in Central Tibet; they would have been part of a private chapel or a living room. See emails from February 5, 2023, and February 19, 2023, copies in object file.

[2] According to Mr. Corona, he purchased the pair of pillars from an unnamed dealer from Kathmandu, who was operating from his home at the time, but now has a shop around Boudhanath Stupa in Kathmandu. He purchased 21 total such pillars along with chests and doors which likely belonged to one building. He reported that the pillars were trucked from Lhasa to Kathmandu. The pillars would have been part of larger shipment that was carried on a truck. The only crossing point in the 1970s for trucks was via the Kodari-Zhangmu.

See emails from Luca Corona dated February 19, 2023, and February 5, 2023, copy in object file. For information on the movement of trucks see: https://www.colorado.edu/tibethimalayainitiative/2015/09/07/himalayan-border-trilogy-trade-and-infrastructure-development-nepal-china-borderlands.

[3] Luca Corona is an Italian national and a Kathmandu-based scholar and exporter of Tibetan furniture.

[4] Ira Seret of Seret & Sons, Santa Fe reported in correspondences with the curator in 2023 that some twenty years ago, a Kathmandu-based scholar and exporter of Tibetan furniture, Luca Corona (an Italian national) sent this pair of pillars along with nineteen other similar pillars, many painted chests, and some doors to his gallery-shop in Santa Fe. Although the chests sold, the pillars have been piled in a Santa Fe back room for two decades. See email from Ira Seret from September 19, 2022 , copy in object file.

[5] Alice S. Kandell purchased the pair of pillars in 2023, to gift them to the National Museum of Asian Art. See never held on to the pieces. See the Donor Provenance Questionnaire and the Deed of Gift from Alice S. Kandell, copy in object file.

[6] See Deed of Gift from Alice S. Kandell, copy in object file.

Research completed on December 23, 2024
Collection

National Museum of Asian Art Collection
Previous custodian or owner

Unidentified family in Central Tibet

Unidentified dealer in Kathmandu, Nepal

Alice S. Kandell

Seret and Sons

Luca Corona
Origin

Central Tibet
Credit Line

Gift of Alice S. Kandell
Type

Architectural Element
Restrictions and Rights

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