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Seated Buddha

National Museum of Asian Art
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Object Details

Previous custodian or owner
Albert Bouasse-Lebel (1868-1955)
Paul Mallon (1884-1975)
Provenance
As early as 1898
Found and excavated by an unidentified French official near Biên Hòa, Ð?ng Nai Province, Vietnam [1]
By 1919 to 1930s
M. Bouasse-Lebel (1868-1955), purchased from the unidentified French official [2]
1930s-1937
Paul Mallon (1884-1975), from M. Bouasse-Lebel, method of acquisition unknown [3]
From 1937
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Paul Mallon [4]
Notes:
[1] In a letter dated 15 April 1937, from the art dealer Paul Mallon (1884-1975) to the Freer Gallery of Art, Mallon notes that the French official was digging for moonstone when he discovered this bronze along with several other sculptures sometime during the year 1898. The letter also notes that the sculptures entered into Lebel's collection in 1919. Sherman Lee dates the discovery of the buried objects to 1919 instead. See Sherman Lee, "A Cambodian Bronze Hoard" in Art in America Vol. 31, no. 2 (1943), pp. 78-83. This sculpture was discovered along with six other Khmer bronze images that were excavated from a site in Vietnam. The group includes Buddhist and Hindu deities and ritual objects, all of which are small in scale. Little research has been done on the origins of the group--where the sculptures were made, how they were used, and why or how they traveled remains unknown.
[2] See letter from Paul Mallon and Lee article referenced in note 1. M. Bouasse-Lebel may be the dealer and collector Albert Bouasse-Lebel and/or a member of the family operating the Bouasse-Lebel printing and engraving firm on Rue Saint-Sulpice in Paris.
[3] See "Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List After 1920," notations in object file.
[4] The Freer Gallery of Art purchased from Paul Mallon on June 2, 1937. See notation on the object receipt, April 14, 1937, copy in accession file.
Research completed October 29, 2021.
Credit Line
Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
12th century
Period
Angkor period
Accession Number
F1937.29a-d
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Type
Sculpture
Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
H x W: 13.2 x 30 cm (5 3/16 x 11 13/16 in)
Origin
Cambodia
Related Online Resources
F|S Southeast Asia
Google Cultural Institute
See more items in
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Topic
Buddhism
Buddha
Angkor period (802 - 1431)
Cambodia
dhyana mudra
Southeast Asian Art
Record ID
fsg_F1937.29a-d
Metadata Usage (text)
Usage conditions apply
GUID (Link to Original Record)
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ye3b1f7cfbb-7a54-4d0d-b29d-340f56a5f4b4
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
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