ticketsMember | Make a donation

Lintel Celebrating Lakshmi

first half of the 7th century
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
Lakshmi, goddess of fertility and abundance, is depicted in the central medallion of this early Khmer lintel. Her principal attribute is the lotus (padma), and her presence on a lintel accords with her role as protector of the threshold to Vaishnava shrines. This lintel is among the earliest of its type. The flamboyance of the wide-jawed makaras (aquatic monsters) and the emerging celestial celebrants amid convoluted foliage set the agenda for Khmer lintel decoration thereafter. The evolution of style witnessed here, building on Chalukyan prototypes from the Indian Deccan, is a touchstone for much seventh-century Cambodian art.

cat. no. 62

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Lintel Celebrating Lakshmi
  • Period: Pre-Angkor period
  • Date: first half of the 7th century
  • Culture: Eastern Cambodia
  • Medium: Sandstone
  • Dimensions: H. 25 9/16 in. (65 cm); W. 61 13/16 in. (157 cm); D. 7 7/8 in. (20 cm); Wt. 1123 lbs. (509.4 kg)
  • Classification: Sculpture
  • Credit Line: Lent by National Museum of Cambodia, Phnom Penh (Ka.1759)
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art