Object Information
Accession Number:
2016.418
Object Title:
God Ganesha
Measurements:
16.4 x 10 x 7.3 cm (6 3/8 x 3 15/16 x 2 7/8 in.)
Creation Date:
7th/8th 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 800 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. Marilynn Alsdorf publicly promised the object to the Art Institute of Chicago in 1997, signed a promised gift agreement for the object in 2002, and gave the object to the Art Institute of Chicago in 2016.
Exhibition Information:
A Collecting Odyssey: Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Art from the James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois (August 2 – October 26, 1997).
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 December 2008 to the present.
Publication Information:
Pal, Pratapaditya with contributions by Stephen Little, A Collecting Odyssey: Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Art from the James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection. Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago in association with Thames and Hudson, New York, (1997), p. 284: cat. 55 and plate p. 51.
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:
Cumulative facts and circumstances.
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. The object has been exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago since December 2008 and exhibited and published in a major catalogue of South Asian art: A Collecting Odyssey: Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Art from the James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection (1997). In addition, the acquisition furthers the representation of the artistic achievements of all civilizations in art museums because it is a rare early example of the Hindu god Ganesha from the pre-Khmer period.
Second, the acquisition of the object was by gift and the object was promised to the Art Insitute prior to 2008. Mrs Alsdorf publicly promised the object to the Art Institute of Chicago in 1997 and thereafter signed a promised gift agreement for the object in 2002.