Kneeling Woman

Late 11th-early 12th century

Cambodia

Copper alloy

H. 18 3/4 x W. 9 1/4 x D. 7 3/4 in. (H. 47.6 cm)

Asia Society, New York: Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, 1979.69

Provenance

John D. Rockefeller 3rd, New York, NY; acquired from Spink & Son Ltd., Zurich, September 19, 1973.

The Asia Society, New York, NY, bequest of John D. Rockefeller 3rd, New York, NY, 1979.

Licensing inquiries

Cambodian kneeling figures in both bronze and stone are known in some number from the 11th and 12th centuries. The gracefully upturned hands held symmetrically above her head -- together with a large, round hole in the top of her head --suggest that this kneeling woman once held something, possibly an offering to a deity. Although some of the kneeling figures have been identified as royal figures, this woman's lack of a crown or diadem suggests that she was not royalty. The pleats and frontal scoop of her sampot (skirt) and the elaborate belt encircling her waist, which is hung with pendants, typifies sculpture produced in the latter half of the 11th century.