Object Details
- Label
- Buddhism entered Nepal from India in the fourth century B.C.E, and remains an active religion there today. An inscription on the base of this devotional image suggests that the Nepali queen Dipamala is represented as the goddess Prajnaparamita.
- This goddess personifies the scripture called the Perfection of Knowledge, an important and popular Mahayana (Great Way) Buddhist text.
- Provenance
- 14th century
- Commissioned by the circle of Queen Dipa Malla of Western Nepal and Western Tibet
- From at least 1967 to 1968
- Doris Wiener, New York, New York or Walter Randall [1]
- From 1968 to 1986
- Paul E. Manheim (1906-1999), New York, New York, purchased from either Doris Wiener or Walter Randall [2]
- 1986
- Peter Marks Works of Art, New York, New York, purchased from Paul E. Manheim [3]
- From 1986
- Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Peter Marks Works of Art
- Notes:
- [1] In 1967 the Brooklyn Museum of Art received the sculpture on loan. The museum’s paperwork lists both Doris Wiener and Walter Randall as lenders at different times. After the sculpture’s arrival in 1967 at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, Paul Manheim purchased it from one of these dealers. Paul Manheim kept the object on long term loan at the Brooklyn Museum of Art of art until 1986. At which time Paul Manheim sold it to Peter Marks Works of Art, who subsequently sold it to the Freer Gallery of Art. See correspondence from the Brooklyn Museum of Art, copies in the object file, Collections Management Office.
- [2] Loan documentation at the Brooklyn Museum of Art indicates that Paul Manheim was the designated lender of the sculpture from at least as of May 1968.
- [3] See invoice from Peters Marks Works of Art, object file, Collections Management Office.
- Updated on June 8, 2020
- Collection
- Freer Gallery of Art Collection
- Exhibition History
- Encountering the Buddha: Art and Practice Across Asia (October 14, 2017 to February 6, 2022)
- Facing East: Portraits from Asia (July 1 to September 4, 2006)
- Buddhist Art (May 9, 1993 to August 9, 2011)
- Previous custodian or owner
- Doris Wiener Gallery (active at least 1962-2011)
- Walter Randall
- Paul E. Manheim (1906-1999)
- Peter Marks, Inc. (active 1963-2002)
- Credit Line
- Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
- 14th century
- Accession Number
- F1986.23
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- Sculpture
- Medium
- Gilt copper
- Dimensions
- H x W x D: 20.3 x 17 x 17 cm (8 x 6 11/16 x 6 11/16 in)
- Origin
- Nepal
- Related Online Resources
- Google Cultural Institute
- See more items in
- Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
- Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
- Topic
- casting
- gilding
- metal
- portrait
- Buddhism
- Nepal
- queen
- mudra
- South Asian and Himalayan Art
- Record ID
- fsg_F1986.23
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ye3d53862f5-16bc-4575-bd14-f4a0792b5bf0
