The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of January 28, 2023

Colossal Head of a Deva

c. 1200

Cambodia, Angkor, c. early 13th century

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

not on view

Fun Fact

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.

Provenance
?–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
Citations
Sotheby's, New York. Indian & Southeast Asian Art. 26 March 2003. Lot 28. Mentioned and Reproduced: Lot 28, pp. 38–39
Exhibition history

Beyond Angkor: Cambodian Sculpture from Banteay Chhmar. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (October 14, 2017-March 25, 2018).

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