Metropolitan Museum VI

Standing boar, Eastern Javanese period, ca. 14th century Indonesia (Java) Bronze L. 6 13/16 in. (17.5 cm) Samuel Eilenberg Collection Gift of Samuel Eilenberg, 1987 (1987.142.259) On view: Gallery 247 Last Updated April 19, 2011 During the rule of the Eastern Javanese kingdom of Majapahit (fourteenth through early sixteenth century), there developed a fondness for a category of object apparently derived from the Western piggy bank. Many terracotta pigs, naturalistic and usually well sculpted, with slots cut at the top so that they could serve as coin boxes, have been recovered from around Trowulan, the Majapahit capital. Even though swine must have played an important role in the domestic economy, the reasons for the great popularity of this animal shape for coin boxes in Eastern Java are unclear. It has been suggested that the shape is a well-suited allusion to financial success as well as culinary delights, since pork and especially suckling pigs are considered a great delicacy. A few of these terracotta pigs are unslotted, and their function, like that of this rare example in bronze, remains unknown. The fierce look of this creature and his projecting tusks suggest he is a wild boar who is sufficiently domesticated to wear a chain with a bell, a common feature of most of the Eastern Javanese terracotta piggy banks. Hollow, this charming boar was cast in two sections—front half and back half. Text from: www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1987.142.259

Standing Four-Armed Shiva Indonesia, Shrivijaya style, 8th-9th century Gilt bronze Accession # 2004.556 Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.

Standing Four-Armed Shiva Date: 8th–9th century Culture: Indonesia Medium: Gilt bronze Dimensions: H. 11 in. (27.9 cm); W. 4 1/4 in. (10.8 cm); H. with double-tiered block 12 5/8 in. (32.1 cm) Classification: Sculpture Credit Line: Gift of Nancy Wiener, 2004 Accession Number: 2004.556 Text from: www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/6004...

Standing Four-Armed Shiva Date: 8th–9th century Culture: Indonesia Medium: Gilt bronze Dimensions: H. 11 in. (27.9 cm); W. 4 1/4 in. (10.8 cm); H. with double-tiered block 12 5/8 in. (32.1 cm) Classification: Sculpture Credit Line: Gift of Nancy Wiener, 2004 Accession Number: 2004.556 Text from: www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/6004...

Title/Object Name: Standing Female Figure with an Offering Culture: India Date: 1st–2nd century Medium: Gold Dimensions: H. 3 1/16 (7.8 cm) Classification: Sculpture Credit Line: Samuel Eilenberg Collection, Gift of Samuel Eilenberg, 1987 Accession Number: 1987.142.309 Text from: www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/collection_database/asian_...

Karaikkal Ammaiyar, Shaiva Saint Period: Chola period (880–1279) Date: ca. late 13th century Culture: India (Tamil Nadu) Medium: Copper alloy Dimensions: H. 9 1/8 in. (23.2 cm); W. 6 1/2 in. (16.5 cm); D. 5 1/4 in. (13.3 cm) Classification: Metalwork Credit Line: Purchase, Edward J. Gallagher, Jr. Bequest, in memory of his father, Edward Joseph Gallagher, his mother, Ann Hay Gallagher, and his son, Edward Joseph Gallagher III, 1982 Accession Number: 1982.220.11 Description: Ammaiyar, a sixth-century South Indian Shaiva poet saint, achieved her emaciated state after beseeching Shiva to free her from all her worldly encumbrances, including her famed beauty. He granted her wish, transforming her into a withered old woman, and she delighted in devoting her life to composing hymns in praise of her Lord. Here, she is seen singing Shiva’s praises, accompanying herself with a pair of cymbals. Her hymns celebrate Shiva’s predilection for cremation grounds and for his wild dancing form as Nataraja. Text from: www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/6000...

Kneeling female, Angkor period, second half of 11th century; Khmer style of the Baphuon Cambodia Bronze with silver inlay and traces of gold H. 17 in. (43.2 cm) Purchase, Bequest of Joseph H. Durkee, by exchange, 1972 (1972.147) Kneeling with her left leg beneath her and right knee raised, this image of a female deity lifts her hands above her head in a gesture of adoration. She wears a pleated sarong secured by a sash with jeweled pendants. The left hem is folded over, creating a frontal panel of cloth resting between the legs and terminating in the "fishtail" silhouette reminiscent of earlier Khmer styles. In addition, she wears jeweled armlets, bracelets, anklets, and a necklace. Her hair is arranged in vertical bands of a quatrefoil pattern alternating with a bead motif, and originally there was a topknot on her head. Her eyes are inlaid silver, the pupils and eyebrows hollowed out to receive additional inlays, now missing, perhaps of black glass. There seem to be traces of a gold foil, suggesting that this deity may originally have been encased in a gold skin, a technique that is not unusual in Southeast Asia. The statue dates to the second half of the eleventh century and follows sculptural idioms of the Baphuon temple developed or completed around the middle of the eleventh century. Text from: www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1972.147

Kneeling female, Angkor period, second half of 11th century; Khmer style of the Baphuon Cambodia Bronze with silver inlay and traces of gold H. 17 in. (43.2 cm) Purchase, Bequest of Joseph H. Durkee, by exchange, 1972 (1972.147) Kneeling with her left leg beneath her and right knee raised, this image of a female deity lifts her hands above her head in a gesture of adoration. She wears a pleated sarong secured by a sash with jeweled pendants. The left hem is folded over, creating a frontal panel of cloth resting between the legs and terminating in the "fishtail" silhouette reminiscent of earlier Khmer styles. In addition, she wears jeweled armlets, bracelets, anklets, and a necklace. Her hair is arranged in vertical bands of a quatrefoil pattern alternating with a bead motif, and originally there was a topknot on her head. Her eyes are inlaid silver, the pupils and eyebrows hollowed out to receive additional inlays, now missing, perhaps of black glass. There seem to be traces of a gold foil, suggesting that this deity may originally have been encased in a gold skin, a technique that is not unusual in Southeast Asia. The statue dates to the second half of the eleventh century and follows sculptural idioms of the Baphuon temple developed or completed around the middle of the eleventh century. Text from: www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1972.147

Title/Object Name: Standing Young Female Culture: Indonesia (Java) Period: Eastern Javanese period Date: 14th–15th century Medium: Bronze Dimensions: H. (incl. base) 9 1/4 in. (23.5 cm) Classification: Sculpture Credit Line: Samuel Eilenberg Collection, Gift of Samuel Eilenberg, 1987 Accession Number: 1987.142.197 Text from: www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/collection_database/asian_...

Seated female ascetic, Eastern Javanese period, 15th–16th century Indonesia (Java), Majapahit kingdom Bronze H. 6 5/8 in. (16.8 cm) Gift of Dr. Victoria Chan-Palay, 1997 (1997.435) Small bronze sculptures of women and children were produced in some number during the Majapahit period. The function of these objects remains unclear. They may have been used as dolls, or as substitutes for certain individuals in magical rituals or other ceremonies. Her thin arms and shaved head suggest that this figure may represent an ascetic. She is seated with left leg folded beneath her, and wears a sarong, serpentine armlets, and a necklace with leaf-shaped pendants and bands around her wrists and ankles. She has a serene expression, heavy-lidded downcast eyes, and prominent arched eyebrows. Text from: www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1997.435

Ring with a Tortoise Motif on a Circular Bezel Accession # 1998.544.290 All of the gold objects in this case are from the Indonesian island of Java and date to the Central Javanese period , 8th-early 10th century. Except as noted, they are from the Samuel Eilenberg-Jonathan P. Rosen Collection of Indonesian Gold, Bequest of Samuel Eilenberg and Gift of Jonathan P. Rosen, 1998. Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.

Bangle with Male Head Accession # 1992.199 All of the gold objects in this case are from the Indonesian island of Java and date to the Central Javanese period , 8th-early 10th century. Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.

Title/Object Name: Standing Female Deity Culture: Cambodia Period: Angkor period, Khmer style of Koh Ker Date: second quarter of the 10th century Medium: Stone Dimensions: H. 61 1/2 in. (156.2 cm); W. 10 1/4 in. (26 cm); D. 20 1/2 in. (52.1 cm) Classification: Sculpture Credit Line: Gift of Doris Wiener, in honor of Martin Lerner, 2003 Accession Number: 2003.605 Text from: www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/collection_database/asian_...

Title/Object Name: Standing Female Deity Culture: Cambodia Period: Angkor period, Khmer style of Koh Ker Date: second quarter of the 10th century Medium: Stone Dimensions: H. 61 1/2 in. (156.2 cm); W. 10 1/4 in. (26 cm); D. 20 1/2 in. (52.1 cm) Classification: Sculpture Credit Line: Gift of Doris Wiener, in honor of Martin Lerner, 2003 Accession Number: 2003.605 Text from: www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/collection_database/asian_...

Title/Object Name: Head of Shiva (lingakosha) Culture: Vietnam (Champa, probably Quang Nam Province) Date: late 9th–10th century Medium: Gold and silver repoussé Dimensions: H. 6 3/4 in. (17.1 cm) Classification: Sculpture Credit Line: Purchase, Friends of Asian Art Gifts, 1996 Accession Number: 1996.239 Text from: www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/collection_database/asian_...

Jar (Hu) Period: Neolithic, Majiayao culture, Banshan phase Date: ca. 2650–2350 B.C. Culture: China Medium: Earthenware with painted decoration Dimensions: H. 13 3/8 in. (34 cm) Classification: Ceramic Credit Line: Charlotte C. and John C. Weber Collection, Gift of Charlotte C. and John C. Weber, 1992 Accession Number: 1992.165.9 Text from: www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/6001...

Ritual Object (Bi) Neolithic period, ca. late 3rd-2nd millennium BC Jade (nephrite) Accession # 13.40.4 Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.

Plaque in the Shape of a Coiled, Two-Headed Animal Date: 5th–4th century B.C. Culture: North China Medium: Gilded bronze Dimensions: H. 2 5/16 in. (5.9 cm); W. 2 in. (5.1 cm) Classification: Metalwork Credit Line: Gift of Ernest Erickson Foundation, 1985 Accession Number: 1985.214.81 Text from: www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/6002...