After World War II, international conflicts and tensions in countries including Vietnam, Cambodia, and India drew nationwide attention to Asia. Against this background, American dealers’ and collectors’ interests in the arts of South and Southeast Asia and the Himalayas increased. Another strong force in this change was that by the 1960s and 70s, top-quality Chinese and Japanese works were increasingly expensive and difficult to acquire. Political changes also led to the exposure of rarely before seen works of art, such as those from Nepal, which had existed in a state of self-imposed isolation until 1950.
John D. Rockefeller 3rd’s (JDR 3rd) interests in collecting and promoting the art and culture of this region differed from those of other collectors. During the early 1950s through early 1960s, JDR 3rd was also involved in helping to solve Asia’s profound problems related to population growth and agricultural development. Much of his focus on South Asia grew out of his awareness that the governments of the region were at risk of being replaced by communist rule. In forming their collection of art from South and Southeast Asia and the Himalayas, the Rockefellers used the same criteria they had used for East Asian art: the works had to be of the highest possible quality, but should also serve as catalysts for increasing understanding and cooperation between the United States and Asia.
Crowned Buddha Shakyamuni
Kashmir or northern Pakistan
Dated by inscription 714
Brass with inlays of copper, silver, and zinc
Asia Society, New York: Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, 1979.44
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In this elaborate sculpture, the Buddha, with his hands in the gesture of teaching, is seated on a lotus that rises from water inhabited by serpent deities (nagas). The Buddha’s distinctive costume suggests that the sculpture depicts the consecration of Shakyamuni as King of the Tushita Pure Land, the abode of all Buddhas before their final rebirth on earth. The Sanskrit inscription on the base of this important piece lists the donors as Sankarasena, a government official, and Princess Devshira.
Crowned Buddha Shakyamuni
India, Bihar
Pala period (ca. 8th–12th century), 11th century
Schist
Asia Society, New York: Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, 1979.36
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This piece epitomizes the artistic style that developed under the eastern Indian Pala dynasty, one of the longest lasting and most important dynasties for Buddhist culture, which ruled much of eastern India from the eighth to the twelfth century. Monks from all over Asia traveled to eastern India to study Buddhism during this period. Thus, the Pala style became extremely influential throughout Asia. The Buddha image in this piece created in the service of Esoteric or Vajrayana Buddhism is shown as crowned and jeweled. These adornments emphasize the Buddha’s role as a universal sovereign. The central Buddha is surrounded by four smaller images of himself, each of which represents an important scene from his life.
Upon recommending this piece to the Rockefellers, to which he gave the grade “A minus,” Sherman E. Lee noted that is was a “very good” and “beautiful” piece. Lee used a grading system for works of art, which ranked pieces on an aesthetic basis from A to D.
Bodhisattva
Western Tibet
Late 10th–early 11th century
Brass with inlays of copper and silver
Asia Society, New York: Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, 1979.45
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This sculpture illustrates the strong impact of the Kashmiri tradition on the art of western Tibet in the late tenth and early eleventh centuries. In 988, the king of western Tibet, Yeshe O, gave royal support for the creation of local workshops—which likely employed artists from Kashmir—to produce images for temples. The articulation of this figure’s torso, the exaggerated waistline, the shape of the face, and the strong facial features closely parallel the art of Kashmir from this period; it is possible that this sculpture was made by a Kashmiri artist working in Tibet.
Male and Female Figures
Cambodia
Angkor period (802–1431), late 12th–early 13th century
Sandstone
Asia Society, New York: Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, 1979.72.1
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Male and Female Figures
Cambodia
Angkor period (802–1431), late 12th–early 13th century
Sandstone
Asia Society, New York: Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, 1979.72.2
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The faces of this male and female pair, with their downcast eyes, raised browbones, and slight smiles, as well as the realistic modeling of the male figure’s muscular legs, help date them to the reign of Jayavarman VII (reigned 1181–ca. 1218), the influential Khmer king who erected the Bayon Temple Mountain in Cambodia, or to the reign of his immediate successor.
Storage Jar
Vietnam, possibly Champa
15th–16th century
Stoneware with incised design under glaze (Go-sanh ware)
Asia Society, New York: Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, 1979.96
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From 192 to 1471, Go-sanh and the surrounding area of central Vietnam were ruled by the Champa kingdom, although the kilns at Go-sanh more than likely continued to produce their distinctive products for centuries after the political extinction of the Cham state. The strategic location of Champa along the Vietnamese coast made it a port-of-call on the trade routes that linked mainland Southeast Asia with Indonesia, China, and other parts of the world from at least the eighth century. A container such as this may have been made to serve as storage on the sea trade routes.
