Head of a Crowned Buddha

CultureIndian

Datelate 10th-early 11th century

MediumSchist

DimensionsOverall: 15 1/2 × 10 1/2 × 8 1/2 inches (39.37 × 26.67 × 21.59 cm)

Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust

Object number43-16

On View

On view

Collections

South and Southeast Asian Art

Terms

Exhibition History

Indian Buddhist Sculpture in American Collections, Speed Museum, Louisville, KY, February 27-March 31, 1968, no. 47.

Pala Art: Buddhist and Hindu Sculpture from Eastern India, University of Iowa, Museum of Art, Iowa City, November 1-December 3, 1969, no. 2.

Gallery Label

A Buddha who wears a crown reflects a concept that has evolved into something more than an illustration of a simple monk. This figure was intended to represent a universal buddha, residing in an abstract heavenly abode. He is wearing royal regalia, including jewelry and a crown. He retains the urna, the round bump in the center of his forehead, symbolic of his supreme knowledge.

Provenance

With Yamanaka & Co., New York, by 1943;

Sequestered from Yamanaka & Co. by the U.S. Office of the Alien Property Custodian, New York, 1943;

Purchased at their sale, Collection of Chinese and Other Far Eastern Art assembled by Yamanaka & Co, Inc. now in the process of liquidation under the supervision of the Alien Property Custodian of the United States of America, Yamanaka & Co., New York, no. 1627, by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1943.

Published References

Yamanaka and Company, Collection of Chinese and Other Far Eastern Art (New York: John B. Watkins Company, 1943), fig. 1627, unpaginated, (repro.).

Ross E. Taggart, ed., Handbook of the Collections in the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 4th ed. (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1959), 227, (repro.).

W. E. Begley, Indian Buddhist Sculpture in American Collections, exh. cat. (Louisville, KY: J.B. Speed Art Museum, 1968), unpaginated.

University of Iowa, Museum of Art, Pala Art: Buddhist and Hindu Sculpture from Eastern India, ca. 800-1200 A.D., exh. cat. (Iowa City: University of Iowa, 1969), 16,18.

Ross E. Taggart and George L. McKenna, eds., Handbook of the Collections in The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, Kansas City, Missouri, vol. 2, Art of the Orient, 5th ed. (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1973), 123, (repro.).

Roger Ward and Patricia J. Fidler, eds., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection (New York: Hudson Hills Press, in association with Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1993), 382, (repro.).

Deborah Emont Scott, ed., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection, 7th ed. (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2008), 266, (repro.).

Information about a particular artwork or image, including provenance information, is based upon historic information and may not be currently accurate or complete. Research on artwork and images is an ongoing process, and the information about a particular artwork or image may not reflect the most current information available to the Museum. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about a particular artwork or image, please e-mail provenance@nelson-atkins.org.