Bodhisattva Maitreya
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.The most important cache of Buddhist bronze images ever discovered in Southeast Asia was accidentally found in 1964 in a stone-covered burial pit in the grounds of Prasat Hin Khao Plai Bat II, a tenth-century Khmer brick temple in Buriram Province. The reason for their careful concealment within the temple compound was likely the rededication of the temple for Brahmanical use. The patinas of some of the bronzes show traces of having been wrapped in cloth. The cache, at the time dubbed the “Prakhon Chai Hoard,” consisted of fifty-three known images and undoubtedly many more that were not recorded.
cat. no. 139
cat. no. 139
Artwork Details
- Title: Bodhisattva Maitreya
- Date: early 8th century
- Culture: Northeastern Thailand
- Medium: Copper alloy inlaid with silver and black stone
- Dimensions: H. 38 in. (96.5 cm); W. 14 1/4 in. (36.2 cm); D. 10 3/4 in. (27.3 cm); Wt. 125 lbs. (56.7 kg)
Mount: H. 5 1/8 in. (13 cm); W. 11 in. (27.9 cm); D. 9 in. (22.9 cm) - Classification: Sculpture
- Credit Line: Lent by Asia Society, New York: Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, 1979.63
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art