The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 24, 2025

Brown-grey sandstone sculpture of solely the head of a god wearing a headdress. Their lips turn faintly upward, the shape of the eyes outlined, and a triangle pointing down on their forehead. On their head rests a floral patterned headdress with a larger central flower behind which five rows of petals rise into a cone shape.

Colossal Head of a Deva

c. 1200

Cambodia, Angkor, Preah Khan

sandstone
Overall: 71.3 x 50 x 47 cm (28 1/16 x 19 11/16 x 18 1/2 in.)
Gift of Maxeen and John Flower in honor of Dr. Stanislaw Czuma 2011.147
Location: 244 Indian and Southeast Asian

Did You Know?

The deity’s conical tiara consists of a diadem with floral decoration and is topped by a five-tiered lotus narrowing upward.

Description

This head is from one of the gods (devas in Sanskrit) who, according to Hindu myth, churned the primordial Ocean of Milk to extract the nectar of immortality. Using a mountain as a churning rod and a serpent as the rope, the gods on one side and the demons on the other vied to win the nectar. The gods prevailed and achieved immortality.
  • ?–early 1970s
    (Spink Ltd., London, England, sold to a private collector)
    early 1970s–2003
    Private Collection, consigned to Sotheby's New York after the collector's death
    March 26, 2003
    (Sotheby's New York, NY, March 26, 2003, lot 28, sold to John and Maxeen Flower)
    March 26, 2003–2011
    Dr. John and Maxeen Stone Flower [1928–2010], Shaker Heights, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2011–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Sotheby's, New York. Indian & Southeast Asian Art. 26 March 2003. Lot 28. Mentioned and Reproduced: Lot 28, pp. 38–39
  • Reinstallation of “Krishna Lifting Mount Govardhan”. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 12, 2024-November 2, 2025).
    Beyond Angkor: Cambodian Sculpture from Banteay Chhmar. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 14, 2017-March 25, 2018).
  • {{cite web|title=Colossal Head of a Deva|url=false|author=|year=c. 1200|access-date=24 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2011.147