Purchased by Mr. James W. Alsdorf, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. The exact date that Mr. Alsdorf purchased this object is unknown; based on the exhibition history, Mr. Alsdorf acquired the object by 1978. Mr. Alsdorf may have acquired the object in 1968 from Otto Schoener, Germany, although attempts to determine this conclusively were unsucessful. 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.

The Ideal Image, The Asia House Gallery, New York, Fall 1978, The Art Institute of Chicago, (March 24 – May 1979). Light of Asia: Buddha Sakyamuni in Asian Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, (March 4 – May 20, 1984); The Art Institute of Chicago, (June 30 – August 26, 1984); The Brooklyn Museum, (November 1, 1984 – February 10, 1985). 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). In the Footsteps of the Buddha, University Museum and Art Gallery, Hong Kong, China, (September 25 – December 15, 1998). The object has been displayed at the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, from 1999 to 2005 and in the Alsdorf Galleries of Indian, Southeast Asian, Himalayan and Islamic Art, from December 2008 to the present.

Ghose, Rajeshwari, In the Footsteps of the Buddha: An Iconic Journey from India to China, Hong Kong: University Museum and Art Gallery, The University of Hong Kong, (1998), Plate 44. Little, Stephen, "Southeast Asian Sculptures from the James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection." Orientations 28, no. 7 (July – August 1997), p. 61: fig. 9. Pal, Pratapaditya, “A Collecting Odyssey. Reflections on the Alsdorf Collection”. Arts of Asia, vol. 27, no. 5 (September – October 1997): fig. 17. 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. 123, pl. p. 103. Pal, Pratapaditya (organizer, with contributing authors), Light of Asia: Buddha Sakyamuni in Asian Art, Los Angeles county Museum of Art, (1984) p. 219. Pal, Pratapaditya, The Ideal Image. NY: The Asia Society, (1978), Plate 83.

Cumulative facts and figures

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; based on the exhibition history, Mr. Alsdorf acquired the object by 1978. Mr. Alsdorf may have acquired the object in 1968 from Otto Schoener, Germany, although attempts to determine this conclusively were unsucessful. The work was included in multiple exhibitions in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Hong Kong and has been publicly displayed from 1999 to 2005 and again since December 2008 at the Art Institute of Chicago. It has been published multiple times, including in three catalogues of South Asian art: Light of Asia (1984), A Collecting Odyssey: Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Art from the James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection (1997); and In the Footsteps of the Buddha (1998). In addition, the acquisition furthers the representation of the artistic achievements of all civilizations in art museums because it is an important example of a bronze Buddha from the Mon-Dvaravati culture showing the interaction between India and Thailand in antiquity. 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.