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Colossal Head of a Deva
c. 1200
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
This head is from one of the gods (<em>devas</em> 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.
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Details
- Title: Colossal Head of a Deva
- Date Created: c. 1200
- Physical Dimensions: Overall: 71.3 x 50 x 47 cm (28 1/16 x 19 11/16 x 18 1/2 in.)
- Provenance: (Spink Ltd., London, England, sold to a private collector), Private Collection, consigned to Sotheby's New York after the collector's death, (Sotheby's New York, NY, March 26, 2003, lot 28, sold to John and Maxeen Flower), Dr. John and Maxeen Stone Flower [1928–2010], Shaker Heights, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Type: Stone
- Rights: CC0
- External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/2011.147
- Medium: sandstone
- Fun Fact: The deity’s conical tiara consists of a diadem with floral decoration and is topped by a five-tiered lotus narrowing upward.
- Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
- Culture: Cambodia, Angkor, c. early 13th century
- Credit Line: Gift of Maxeen and John Flower in honor of Dr. Stanislaw Czuma
- Collection: Cambodian Art
- Accession Number: 2011.147
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