<em>Head of a Male Deity</em>, 540-600 C.E. Gray sandstone, 10 x 5 3/4 x 6 1/2 in. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Georgia and Michael de Havenon, 1996.210.3. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1996.210.3_overall_PS11.jpg)

Head of a Male Deity, 540-600 C.E. Gray sandstone, 10 x 5 3/4 x 6 1/2 in. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Georgia and Michael de Havenon, 1996.210.3. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1996.210.3_overall_PS11.jpg)

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Great smile. Is this buddah?

I agree! It is likely that this image originally represented a Hindu deity, probably the god Vishnu, who wears a tall crown. But interestingly, it seems to have been repurposed as a Buddhist image at a later date when it would have represented a Bodhisattva

Tell me more about these two heads.

These two sculptures represent the different ways Buddhist divinities are represented in different cultures. The first is from Cambodia and the second from Japan.

Notice the differences in facial proportions and headdresses. They're also made of different materials. The first is stone and the second is wood painted to look like bronze!

Tell me more.

Starting in the early centuries of the first millennium, Brahmanical culture from South Asia began to impact Cambodia and neighboring regions of Southeast Asia, resulting in the adaptation and localization of Indic traditions.

The identity of this image is actually unknown. You'll notice that there is a Buddha carved into his hair. This was added later to transform the deity into Avalokiteshvara, a bodhisattva. As belief in Hinduism waned in medieval Cambodia, images and sites were sometimes repurposed into a Buddhist context.

Head of a Male Deity

Asian Art

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

With its round, soft features and narrow eyes, this head is typical of the earliest Cambodian stone sculptures. In this period, Cambodian rulers strove to adopt and emulate aspects of Indian culture that had traveled to Southeast Asia via maritime trade and missionaries. Most of the sculptures from this early period are Hindu in subject matter, whereas the seated Buddha atop this head indicates that it represents a Buddhist deity. It is likely that this image originally represented a Hindu deity, probably the god Vishnu, who wears a tall crown, and that it was repurposed as a Buddhist image at a later date by carving the Buddha into the stone of the crown.

MEDIUM Gray sandstone

Place Made: Cambodia

DATES 540-600 C.E.

DIMENSIONS 10 x 5 3/4 x 6 1/2 in. (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Asian Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 1996.210.3

CREDIT LINE Gift of Georgia and Michael de Havenon

PROVENANCE Prior to 1996, provenance not yet documented; by 1996, acquired by Galerie Beurdeley et Cie., Paris, France; 1996, purchased from Galerie Beurdeley et Cie. by Georgia and Michael de Havenon of New York, NY; 1996, gift of Georgia and Michael de Havenon to the Brooklyn Museum.

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MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Asian Galleries, North, 2nd floor (Japan)

CAPTION Head of a Male Deity, 540-600 C.E. Gray sandstone, 10 x 5 3/4 x 6 1/2 in. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Georgia and Michael de Havenon, 1996.210.3. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1996.210.3_overall_PS11.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 1996.210.3_overall_PS11.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2021

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RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY

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