Object Information
Accession Number:
2015.439
Object Title:
Head of a Female Adorant
Measurements:
11.8 x 9.3 x 10.5 cm (4 5/8 x 3 5/8 x 4 1/8 in.)
Creation Date:
2nd/3rd century
Credit Line:
Gift of Marilynn B. Alsdorf
Museum Name:
Culture:
Country of Origin:
Object Type:
Materials/ Techniques:
Museum's Definition of Antiquity:
created before late 6th century CE
Provenance Information:
Purchased by Mr. James W. Alsdorf, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. The exact date that Mr. Alsdorf purchased this object is unknown; however, Mr. Alsdorf acquired the object before his death in 1990. Attempts to determine from whom Mr. Alsdorf acquired the object were unsuccessful. Mrs. James W. Alsdorf placed the object on a long-term loan to the Art Institute of Chicago in 1996, signed a promised gift agreement for the object in 2010, and gave the object to the Art Institute of Chicago in 2015.
Exhibition Information:
The object has been displayed at the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, in the Alsdorf Galleries of Indian, Southeast Asian, Himalayan and Islamic Art, from September 2008 to the present.
Publication Information:
Pratapaditya Pal with contributions by Stephen Little, A Collecting Odyssey: Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Art from the James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection (The Art Institute of Chicago in association with Thames and Hudson, New York, 1997) p. 221: 292 and plate p. 338.
Section of the AAMD Guidelines relied upon for the exception to 1970:
Cumulative facts and figures
Explain why the object fits the exception set forth above:
Also: Gift or bequest expected or on loan prior to 2008.
This acquisition falls within two exceptions. First, the cumulative facts and circumstances known to the Art Institute of Chicago at the time of the acquisition allowed it to make an informed judgment to acquire the object. The exact date that Mr. Alsdorf purchased this object is unknown, but Mr. Alsdorf acquired this object before his death in 1990. Attempts to determine from whom Mr. Alsdorf acquired the object were unsuccessful. The object has been exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago since December 2008 and published in a major catalogue of South Asian art: A Collecting Odyssey: Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Art (1997). In addition, the acquisition furthers the representation of the artistic achievements of all civilizations in art museums because it is a fine example of the Graeco-Buddhist art of ancient Gandhara that flourished in present day Afghanistan and Pakistan. Second, the acquisition of the object was by gift and the object was on long term loan prior to 2008. Mrs Alsdorf lent the object to the Art Institute of Chicago from 1996 until its acquisition.