Provenance Information

Purchased for MCCM by Robert Walzer [Nathan Rubin - Ida Ladd Family Foundation], Georgetown, Connecticut, July 2000, possibly from Kapoor Galleries, New York, New York.

Exhibition Information

MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 2004 - April 4, 2021
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, August 28, 2021 - Present

Publication Information

Janet Kamphorst, In Praise of Death: History and Poetry in Medieval Marwar (South Asia) (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2008), 240.
Michael C. Carlos Museum: Highlights of the Collections (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2011), 123.
Joyce Burkhalter Flueckiger, Everyday Hinduism (Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley Blackwell, 2015), 29, Figure 1.2.

Section of the AAMD Guidelines relied upon for the exception to 1970

Gift or bequest expected or on loan prior to 2008

Explain why the object fits the exception set forth above

Was purchased as a gift for the MCCM before 2008.

Provenance Information

With North American dealer, until March 23, 2000. Purchased for MCCM by Robert Walzer [Nathan Rubin - Ida Ladd Family Foundation], Georgetown, Connecticut, from Sotheby's New York, sale 7447, March 23, 2000, lot 128.

Exhibition Information

Sotheby's New York, Indian and Southeast Asian Art (March 23, 2000), lot 128.
MCCM Newsletter, December 2000 - February 2001.
MCCM Newsletter, December 2004 - February 2005.
Michael C. Carlos Museum: Highlights of the Collections (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2011), 125.

Publication Information

Sotheby's New York, Indian and Southeast Asian Art (March 23, 2000), lot 128.
MCCM Newsletter, December 2000 - February 2001.
MCCM Newsletter, December 2004 - February 2005.
Michael C. Carlos Museum: Highlights of the Collections (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2011), 125.

Section of the AAMD Guidelines relied upon for the exception to 1970

Gift or bequest expected or on loan prior to 2008

Explain why the object fits the exception set forth above

Was purchased a gift for the museum before 2008.

Provenance Information

Said to be ex coll. Dr. Josef R. Belmont (1886-1981), Basel, Switzerland. Purchased for MCCM by Robert Walzer [Nathan Rubin - Ida Ladd Family Foundation], Georgetown, Connecticut, from Sotheby's New York, Sale 7510, September 22, 2000, lot 148.

Exhibition Information

Indische Kunst, Wurtembergischer Kunstuerein, Stuttgart, Germany, January 20 - March 13, 1966 (by repute)
Indische Kunst, Museum fur Kunst und Geouerbe, Hamburg, Germany, May 18 - July 31, 1966 (by repute)
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 2004 - April 4, 2021
The Avatars of Vishnu, Michael C. Carlos Museum, April 24 - July 18, 2021
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, August 28, 2021 - Present

Publication Information

Sotheby's New York, Indian and Southeast Asian Art (September 22, 2000), lot 148.
MCCM Newsletter, December 2000 - February 2001.
Michael C. Carlos Museum: Highlights of the Collections (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2011), 126.

Section of the AAMD Guidelines relied upon for the exception to 1970

Cumulative facts and circumstances

Explain why the object fits the exception set forth above

Was said to have been in a travelling show in Germany in the 1960s.

Provenance Information

Purchased by MCCM from Doris Wiener (1922-2011) [Doris Wiener, Inc., Ancient Art of Asia], New York, New York.

Exhibition Information

MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 2004 - August 2009
Victorious Ones: Jain Images of Perfection, Rubin Museum of Art, New York, New York, September 18, 2009 - February 15, 2010
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, May 26, 2010 - April 4, 2021
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, August 28, 2021 - Present

Publication Information

Michael C. Carlos Museum: Highlights of the Collections (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2011), 127.

Section of the AAMD Guidelines relied upon for the exception to 1970

Partial interest received prior to 2008

Explain why the object fits the exception set forth above

Purchased prior to 2008.

Provenance Information

June 13 1979, Christie's, Mason & Woods Ltd. Fine Indian, Himalayan and South-East Asian Sculpture and Works of Art auction, lot 179 (London). March 26 1998, Sotheby's Indian and Southeast Asian Art, lot 58 (New York). 1998-2011, Harry M. Sterling (Denver, CO); 2011, DAM collection (gift of Mr. Harry M. Sterling)

Exhibition Information

On display at DAM 1998-2010; 7/2013-present; Kapoor Galleries, NYC, "A Sterling Collection of Indian and Himalayan Art," 3/19-3/26 2011.

Publication Information

Christie's, Mason & Woods Ltd. Fine Indian, Himalayan and South-East Asian Sculpture and Works of Art auction, London, June 13 1979, lot 179, p. 52.

Sotheby's New York Auction Catalogue, sale 7108, March 26, 1998; lot 58, p. 60-61

A Sterling Collection of Indian and Himalayan Art; Kapoor Galleries, NY. March 2011. image 3.

Section of the AAMD Guidelines relied upon for the exception to 1970

Gift or bequest expected or on loan prior to 2008

Explain why the object fits the exception set forth above

Object was on long-term loan to the Denver Art Museum from 1998 until 2010, and was subsequently gifted to the institution in 2011.

Provenance Information

The earliest registrar's records in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) for this sculpture are from February 21, 1978, when it was brought into the museum as TR.2785.1 for catalogue photography prior to the exhibition,” The Divine Presence: Asian Sculptures from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lenart” (LACMA, 1978). During its presentation in the exhibition it was EX.78.233. No additional provenance information is reportedly available from the Lenart estate records.

Exhibition Information

EXHIBITION 1. "The Divine Presence: Asian Sculptures from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lenart” (LACMA, August 15 - October 15, 1978). The exhibition subsequently toured to five venues: University Art Gallery, University of Texas at Austin; The Fine Art galleries, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee; Utah Museum of fine Arts, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City; University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City; Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon.

EXHIBITION 2. "As Many Worlds As There Are: 25th Anniversary Gifts" (LACMA, October 21, 1990 – January 6, 1991.

Publication Information

PUBLICATION 1. The Divine Presence: Asian Sculptures from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lenart (LACMA, 1978), p. 20, cat. no. 8 (illustrated).

PUBLICATION 2. As Many Worlds As There Are: 25th Anniversary Gifts (LACMA, 1990), p. 11 (unillustrated).

Section of the AAMD Guidelines relied upon for the exception to 1970

Gift or bequest expected or on loan prior to 2008

Explain why the object fits the exception set forth above

The sculpture was formally accepted as a Promised Gift to LACMA on September 18, 1990 (as L.90.67).

In addition, in the Preface (p. 4) of the catalogue,The Divine Presence: Asian Sculptures from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lenart (LACMA, 1978), it is stated that this sculpture and "the remaining [unaccessioned objects] will become part of the Museum's permanent collection over the next few years."

Provenance Information

With Spink & Son, London, probably late 1970s or early 1980s; sold to private collection, London, probably late 1970s or early 1980s, to 2010; sold to the Philadelphia Museum of Art through Oliver Forge and Brendan Lynch Ltd., London, 2010.

Exhibition Information

None

Publication Information

None

Section of the AAMD Guidelines relied upon for the exception to 1970

Cumulative facts and circumstances

Explain why the object fits the exception set forth above

The object has been out of its country of origin since at least the late 1970s or early 1980s. The Museum’s collection is exceptionally deep in stone devotional sculpture from across India, but includes few significant bronze images to demonstrate the importance and strength of this medium. This classic Chola Dynasty processional image of one of the most lively and fascinating of Vishnu’s avatars is an extraordinary addition to the collection where it appropriately inhabits and activates the Museum’s South Indian Mandapa, dedicated to Krishna, another of Vishnu’s avatars.