Object Information

Accession Number:
2016.432
Object Title:
Standing Buddha
Measurements:
67.3 x 23.7 x 11.0 cm (26 1/2 x 9 5/16 x 4 5/16 in.)
Creation Date:
8th century
Credit Line:
Gift of Marilynn B. Alsdorf
Museum Name:
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., from Harry Shupak, Honolulu, Hawaii in 1971. Attempts to determine when and from whom Mr. Shupak 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 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:
Little, Stephen, "Southeast Asian Sculptures from the James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection." Orientations 28, No. 7 (July – August 1997), p. 61: fig. 10.
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. 299: cat. 122 and plate p. 101.
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 judgement to acquire the object. This object was acquired by Mr. Alsdorf in 1971 from Harry Shupak, Hawaii. Attempts to determine when and from whom Mr. Shupak acquired the object were unsuccessful. It has been exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1997 and since December 2008. The object has been published twice, including 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 an important standing Buddha image from the Mon-Dvaravati culture that demonstrates the cultural connections between India and Thailand in ancient times.
Second, the acquisition of the object was by gift and the object was promised to the Art Insittute 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.