The Rijksmuseum Bulletin
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the rijksmuseum bulletin 140 the rijks frans hals: the portraits ofsleeping a mennonitemuseum in style watchmaker and his wife bulletin The Provenance of Four Sandstone Sculptures from Cambodia • william a. southworth • his article examines the acqui- Detail of fig. 12 still active today, was founded in T sition and provenance of four Amsterdam in 1918 by a group of sculptures from Cambodia in the private collectors and scholars, with Rijksmuseum collection. The question the idea of promoting the study and of provenance has become increasingly appreciation of Asian art in the sensitive over recent years, in particular Netherlands through special exhib- for art objects from Southeast Asia. A itions and events. The success of these burgeoning trade in the illegal export temporary exhibitions encouraged the of antiquities from the region compels committee of the Society to establish museums to determine the history of an Acquisition Fund in 1928, for the each object. In the case of Cambodia, purchase of outstanding examples many sculptures in European collec- of Asian art for future display in a tions or on the international art market permanent museum collection. In less have little or no information as to how than six months, a remarkable sum or when they were first brought out of 150,000 guilders was collected for of the country. Moreover, details of this purpose through private dona - where an object was actually found are tions alone.1 rare and limited only to a few selected In order to use these funds effectively, examples in the oldest museum col- the Curator of the Society’s collection, lections. In general, once this infor ma- H.F.E. Visser (1890-1965) and its tion has been lost it is almost impos- President, Herman Karel Westendorp sible to recover. In the present instance, (1868-1941), both embarked on tours however, consultation of documents of Asia with the idea of acquiring held in Amsterdam and Paris has made important artefacts for the collection. it possible to reconstruct both the In the summer of 1930, Westendorp process of acquisition and the exact travelled to Indonesia in the company provenance of the four sculptures of his wife (fig. 1), the artist Betsy concerned. Westendorp-Osieck (1880-1968). In Java, he began negotiations with the The vvak in Cambodia Dutch Archaeological Service in the The four sandstone sculptures featured Netherlands East Indies (Oudheid- in this article were all acquired in kundige Dienst in Nederlandsch-Indië) Cambodia in the early 1930s by the for the gift or loan of twelve Central Vereniging van Vrienden der Azia ti sche Javanese sculptures for display in the Kunst (vvak) or ‘Asian Art Society in Society’s permanent collection in the Netherlands’. The Society, which is Amsterdam. After meeting up with 141 the rijksmuseum bulletin Their home during the visit was to be the Hôtel des Ruines, situated in the archaeological park near the main western causeway to Angkor Wat (fig. 2). The Angkor Conservancy The Angkor region had once been the centre of a powerful Khmer or Cambodian empire that extended its rule from the ninth to the thirteenth century into many neighbouring areas of modern Thailand, Vietnam and southern Laos. By the end of the fourteenth century, however, the empire’s power had declined, and when the centre of royal authority was moved to the south, to the area of modern Phnom Penh, the former capital gradually fell into decay. The existence of a great ruined city in the jungles of Cambodia was later reported to an excited European public in the 1850s, and when Cambodia signed a Treaty of Protectorate with France in 1867, French scholars took a leading interest in the archaeology of the region. However, the Angkor area itself was not initially included in the treaties with Cambodia and it was Fig. 1 Visser in Japan for a highly successful only after a separate treaty with Siam Betsy Westendorp- series of journeys and acquisitions (modern Thailand) in 1907 that French Osieck and Herman during the autumn of 1930,2 the archaeologists were able to take formal Karel Westendorp. Westendorps returned by ship to control over the long-term manage- Courtesy of the vvak. Saigon via Shanghai to begin their ment of the site. trip to Cambodia. Unfortunately, severe stomach At this time, Angkor was already pains forced Westendorp to return famous for its overgrown, entangled, to Singapore, where he was admitted but eminently romantic ruins (fig. 3).4 to hospital. His illness was never To help bring some order to the chaos, fully diagnosed, but the pain gradually however, by conserving the surviving began to subside and after ten days buildings and safely opening the area he was declared fit to continue his to more visitors, an Angkor archaeo- journey.3 He and his wife subsequently logical park was created under the left Singapore on board the André supervision of the École française Lebon on 27 December, arriving in d’Extrême-Orient or French School Cambodia at the end of the year. of the Far East (efeo). The Conser- After visiting the Musée Albert Sarraut vation d’Angkor or Angkor Conser- (now the National Museum) in Phnom vancy, initially led by Jean Commaille Penh, they travelled by car to the town (1868-1916), was consequently estab- of Siem Reap on 1 January 1931 to lished by the efeo to manage all visit the famous ruins of Angkor. archaeological activity at the site. 142 the provenance of four sandstone sculptures from cambodia B A C Fig. 2 pages 144-45 Central Angkor Fig. 3 Region. Map from View of the Bayon H. Marchal, Guide temple by J.G. Mulder, archéologique aux 1907. The Hague, temples d’Angkor, National Archives, Paris/Brussels 1928. Spaarnestad Photo/ J.G. Mulder. 143 the rijksmuseum bulletin 144 the provenance of four sandstone sculptures from cambodia 145 the rijksmuseum bulletin As the temples were gradually cleared reserved for Phnom Penh and Hanoi, of trees and undergrowth, sculptures but I nevertheless selected 3 pieces were also found and collected at the – a big head, a piece with 3 heads, and Conservancy’s headquarters and a figure – which I hope to get for the depot. Only a few statues remained Museum. That would be something!! 6 intact within the temples themselves, but pieces of broken statues and Marchal himself did not have the sculptural fragments lay scattered authority to authorize a donation or sale across the whole site and were often of sculptures, but was dependent on the discovered among the roots of trees decision of George Cœdès (1886-1969), or under piles of building debris. then Director of the École française Due to lack of space, only the finest d’Extrême-Orient in Hanoi, who was pieces were brought to the Angkor responsible for overseeing the archae o - Conser vancy and many of these were logical and museum service throughout subsequently distributed to museums Indochina. Nevertheless, Westendorp in Phnom Penh, Hanoi or Paris.5 and his wife returned to the store the At the time of Westendorp’s visit, next day to finalise their selection in the Conservation d’Angkor was led advance of an official request: by Henri Marchal (1876-1970), who had replaced Jean Commaille in the Friday 9 January difficult period following the latter’s … Bets and I [had] already walked all murder by robbers on 29 April 1916. around the ‘hangar’ and looked at the Marchal had met Westendorp and sculptures that stood there. There is a his wife the previous summer in large figure, very beautifully preserved … Indonesia, where he had spent four I shall ask for it, but probably with out months as a guest of the Dutch success – and so it turned out. Never - Archaeological Service, studying theless, our journey was not at all in vain, the temples of ancient Java and in because I have been able to exchange particular the techniques of stone the big head selected yesterday, which architectural reconstruction. Marchal only moderately appealed to us, for a had arranged to meet the Westendorps truly magnificent head, of the highest at Angkor and had agreed to help the quality, which would definitely cost 20 to vvak in its attempt to acquire some 30,000 francs in Paris. If Cœdès gives his examples of Khmer sculpture for the consent – which I do not wish to doubt – proposed museum in Amsterdam. The then my effort to return to Indochina diaries of H.K. Westendorp provide would be a coup for the Society! 7 short descriptions of their visits to the various temples and of their later On the following day, the Westendorps reception by Marchal: left Siem Reap to return to Phnom Penh, but their visit was only the beginning of Thursday, 8 January. a long and complex acquisition process. Marchal came to collect us at 7 o’clock. We went with him to the Bayon, and The Acquisition now saw far more, including the great A number of letters concerning the faces from close up. The sun was really purchase of the three sculptures from not yet strong enough for photos. Then Cambodia have been preserved in to Preah Khan, where we clambered the archives of the vvak, now kept round to the innermost sanctuary. at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.8 At the Porte la Victoire 2 photos, I These can now be supplemented by think only the last good. Afterwards the internal correspondence of the to the dépot. Piles of heads, torsos etc. École française d’Extrême-Orient, The most beautiful are for Paris, or currently held in the archives of the 146 the provenance of four sandstone sculptures from cambodia efeo in Paris.