Buddha
date: label: Accession Date
content: 29 Oct 1958
name: label: Donor Name
content: Prince Norodom Sihanouk
notes: label: Notes
content: This Buddha was a diplomatic gift 30 September 1958 from Prince Norodom Sihanouk, through President Dwight D. Eisenhower. From card: "The Buddha was made in the city of Angkor Thom (Thom means city), which lies in the jungle of Cambodia and dates to the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries A.D. This city was the capitol of the Khmer Empire of Cambodia. The Buddha was probably done [made?] during the reign of King Jayavarmon VII, 1921 - 1215 A.D., King Jayavarmon was a great builder of Angkor Thom. Between the center buildings of the city lies the temple of Bayon -- the four enormous figures (called Shiva) on the temple and other aspects of Buddha are identified with the religion of the King. The Buddha is sitting on a coiled serpent and his crown is the seven heads of Naga (serpent) -- three heads on each side of Buddha and one in the middle. As the legend goes: The serpent (naga) is called Muchilinda. It seems that Buddha, during a period of meditation, was protected from the rain by muchilinda by giving him a comfortable seat and covering his seven heads. According to the legends, the ancestors of the King were descended from Nagas. (Information given by Mr. Pope of the Freer Gallery) Lent to the NMNH Director's Office, Oct. 1990 [returned ca. 2008]"
label: Notes
content: A pink mottled marble base is associated with this statue. The base is made from polished slabs of marble glued together. A hole in the top fits the base of the sculpture. One side is engraved with the phrase: "TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA FROM THE KINGDOM OF CAMBODIA". This base is mentioned on the catalog card and in the ledger book, but not in the accession history, so it is unclear whether it was presented as part of the gift, or added at the museum very shortly after. (Check accession file).
label: Record Last Modified
content: 21 Apr 2025
label: Specimen Count
content: 2
place: label: Place
content: Angkor Thom (Nokor Thom), Angkor, Siem Reap Province, Cambodia, Asia
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Cambodian
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 221692
label: USNM Number
content: E394625-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Buddha
physicalDescription: label: Height - Object
content: 33 cm
label: Depth - Object
content: 43 cm
label: Width - Object
content: 69 cm
label: Weight - Base
content: 65.8 kg