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Female Figure (one of a pair)

Late 12th-early 13th century

Cambodia

Sandstone

H. 55 x W. 18 x D. 9 1/2 in. (139.7 x 45.7 x 24.1 cm)

Asia Society, New York: The Mr. and Mrs John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, 1979.72.2

Provenance

John D. Rockefeller 3rd, New York, NY; acquired from J. J. Klejman, New York, NY, 1965.

The Asia Society, New York, NY, bequest of John D. Rockefeller 3rd, New York, NY, 1979.

Licensing inquiries

These figures have been identified as a royal couple, probably owing to the lack of distinguishing characteristics in their headdresses or hands that could be associated with either Hindu or Buddhist deities. Nevertheless, the Cambodian custom of paralleling gods and rulers often makes it difficult to distinguish deities from humans, and so it is equally possible that these sculptures represent unidentified deities. The figures' faces, with their downcast eyes, raised browbones and slight smiles, as well as the male figure's realistically muscled leg, help date the pair to the reign of Jayavarman VII (r. 1181-1218?), the influential Khmer king who erected the Bayon temple-mountain, or to the reign of his immediate successor. The male figure once had some sort of symbol, a few inches high, carved on the front of headdress which was scratched out for unknown reasons.