Skip Navigation

Seated Divinity

Asian Art

On View: Asian Galleries, North, 2nd floor (Japan)

The ancient art of Java, one of the Indonesian islands, includes religious icons that adorned its Hindu and Buddhist temples. This male image can be identified as Hindu by its posture and royal attire and by the sacred thread in the form of a serpent. While the statue's original location remains uncertain, similar examples have been found in the main shrines and side chapels or on the exterior walls of temples.

MEDIUM Volcanic stone
DATES 9th century
DIMENSIONS 26 3/8 x 16 15/16 x 26 3/8 in., 390 lb. (67 x 43 x 67 cm, 176.9kg)  (show scale)
COLLECTIONS Asian Art
ACCESSION NUMBER 87.188.9
CREDIT LINE Gift of Georgia and Michael de Havenon
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Torso of a male carved in the round possibly Siva Yogasana, carrying a serpent on his right shoulder. The figure is shown seated on decorated cushion, with its left hand resting in its lap, and it is heavily ornamented with jewels, sacred thread and serpent. Its long tresses are carved at left and right of chest. Cf. A. Bernet Kempers, Ancient Indonesian Art (Amsterdam, 1959) p1. 157-158. Condition: void at head and neck, right arm above elbow is also void. Part of left hand, left wrist, and left foot are void. All old breaks. Back is beautifully preserved. Some old abrasion on right shoulder front of right shoulder, jewelry at center and sacred thread, and both knees are unevenly chipped at outermost points. Carved base is also chipped at outermost points. No base or pedestal.
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Asian Galleries, North, 2nd floor (Japan)
CAPTION Seated Divinity, 9th century. Volcanic stone, 26 3/8 x 16 15/16 x 26 3/8 in., 390 lb. (67 x 43 x 67 cm, 176.9kg). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Georgia and Michael de Havenon, 87.188.9. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 87.188.9_PS11.jpg)
IMAGE overall, 87.188.9_PS11.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2021
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.