Detail View: The AMICA Library: Kneeling Woman

AMICA ID: 
ASIA.1979.069
AMICA Library Year: 
1998
Object Type: 
Sculpture
Creator Nationality: 
Asian; Southeast Asian; Cambodian
Creator Name-CRT: 
Cambodian
Title: 
Kneeling Woman
View: 
Full view
Creation Date: 
Angkor period, late 11th-early 12th century
Creation Start Date: 
1067
Creation End Date: 
1133
Materials and Techniques: 
Copper alloy
Classification Term: 
Bronzes
Creation Place: 
Cambodia
Dimensions: 
H. 18 3/4 in. (47.6 cm)
AMICA Contributor: 
Asia Society
Owner Location: 
New York, New York, USA
ID Number: 
1979.069
Credit Line: 
Asia Society: The Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection
Rights: 
Context: 
The study of Cambodian and Thai sculpture dating from the 10th to 14th centuries is primarily the study of the civilization and culture of the Khmer empire. The Khmers inhabited and controlled parts of mainland Southeast Asia from the 6th century onward. Historically, they are best known for the era called the Angkor period (c. 802-1431), named for the Khmer capital. This charming bronze figure of a kneeling woman illustrates the art of the Angkor period in the late 11th and early 12th century. The woman's taut figure, the detailed carving of the pleats in her skirt, the articulation of the garment's waist, and the type of jeweled belt that she wears all typify Cambodian sculpture produced during this period, particularly in the style of pieces that are associated with the temple mountain of Angkor Wat, which was constructed c. 1100-1175.

The iconography and function of this sculpture are perplexing. Kneeling figures, either in bronze or stone, from the 11th and 12th centuries are known in some number, and some of them have been identified as royal figures. The gracefully upturned hands--together with a large, cupped indentation in the top of her head--suggest that this kneeling woman may once have held something, probably an offering to a statue of a divinity, and it is tempting to speculate that she was originally part of a larger group of devotees and deities.

Related Document Description: 
Asia Society. Handbook of the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection. New York: Asia Society, [1981], p. 34.
Related Document Description: 
Calza, Gian Carlo. 'Musei: L'Asia in casa.' Antiquariato 34 (January 1983), p. 47.
Related Document Description: 
Treasures of Asian Art: Selections from the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, The Asia Society, New York. Hong Kong and Singapore: Hong Kong Museum of Art and National Museum Singapore, 1993, pp. 94, 95.
Related Document Description: 
Lee, Sherman E. Asian Art: Selections from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd--Part II. New York: Asia Society, 1975, pp. 30, 31, 33.
Related Document Description: 
Treasures of Asian Art: Selections from the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, The Asia Society, New York. Tokyo: Idemitsu Museum of Arts, 1992, pp. 64, 65, 131.
Related Document Description: 
Young, Mahonri Sharp. 'Letter from the U.S.A.: The Second Seventy.' Apollo (February 1975), p. 137.
Related Image Identifier Link: 
ASIA.1979.069.a.tif