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The Goddess Uma
Cambodia, Koh Ker, ca. 10th century A.D.
Sandstone. Height: 25 3/4 in. (65 cm)
Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Frederick Baekeland. 79.92.1
This statue displays the sober, graceful style of Khmer statuary found
at Koh Ker and is a testimony to the skill and workmanship of Khmer sculptors
during this period. Located some eighty-five kilometers northeast of Angkor,
Koh Ker was the site of a short-lived royal capital established from 921
to 944 A.D. Statuary from this period is characterized by wide hips and
full breasts as well as long, tight, incisions on the figure's dhoti or
sarong, marking the folds of the full-length cloth. Although beautiful and
majestic in its own right, Koh Ker art lacks the refined elegance of the
sculpture found at Angkor, which dates a century later. The Koh Ker period
allows us to witness the evolution of Khmer art from the simplicity of its
beginnings to the extreme sophistication of later twelfth- and thirteenth-century
Angkor.
This statue is a representation of Uma, otherwise known as Parvati, or Shiva's
consort. She is usually represented at his side in Indian sculpture, but
is here seen as a divinity in her own right, although she certainly was
part of the architectural structure of a temple and meant to be viewed in
conjunction with the other deities of the Hindu canon. |
