Crowned Naga-Protected Buddha

Cambodian (Artist)

ca. 1150-1190

Stone (arkosic wacke), traces of lacquer and gilding
(Southeast Asia )

During one of the weeks following his enlightenment, the Buddha Shakyamuni was sheltered from the rain by a serpent known as a "naga." In Cambodia, the naga, in the form of a multi-headed hooded cobra, was considered to be the spirit of the irrigating rivers and canals as well as a rainbow-bridge to heaven. This sculpture is carved from arkosic wacke, a type of sandstone rich in the mineral feldspar, which gives it a crystalline quality.

Provenance

**Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.**

Luang Ban, Bangkok; Alexander B. Griswold, Monkton, Maryland, 1948 or earlier [1]; by bequest to Walters Art Museum, 1992.

[1] Presented to the Breezewood Foundation, December 1960, inv. no. 445, from foundation records: "Not from Lopburi but from Angkor Wat."

Exhibitions

1995	Unearthly Elegance: Buddhist Art from the Griswold Collection. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore.

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
	Technical Report	other
6/22/1994	Treatment	cleaned; other
6/27/1994	Examination	examined for condition

Share

Geographies

Cambodia (Place of Origin)

Measurements

Object H: 28 3/8 × W: 13 × D: 6 7/8 in. (72 × 33 × 17.5 cm); Base H: 3 × W: 10 13/16 × D: 6 1/2 in. (7.6 × 27.5 × 16.5 cm); Overall H on base: 29 3/4 in. (75.6 cm)

Credit Line

Bequest of A. B. Griswold, 1992

Location in Museum

Centre Street: Fourth Floor: Across Asia - Arts of Asia and the Islamic World

Accession Number

In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.

25.171

Do you have additional information?

Notify the curator