About the Work

This sandstone head, dated to the Bayon period (late 12th–early 13th century), comes from the Preah Khan temple at Angkor, founded by Jayavarman VII. The sculpted head was discovered on 24 April 1941 in Building E, in the inner south-west courtyard of Preah Khan Temple, and was recorded by the École française d’Extrême-Orient (EFEO) as inventory no. 3869.

On 16 September 1946, it was formally presented to Commander Jean Sarrat as a token of gratitude for his services. The gift was made by Jacques Lagisquet, then 'Conservateur des Monuments d’Angkor' (Conservator of the Angkor Monuments Group), with the approval of Georges Coedès, Director of the École française d’Extrême-Orient. Preserved within the Sarrat family since 1946, the sculpture rests on its original wooden base, made by the Sarrat family: it is simply placed on the base, with no fixing device and no drill holes. The EFEO inventory number 3869 is painted on the reverse of the sculpture. In addition, the sculpture is accompanied by a substantial body of archival documentation, making it possible to trace its history and provenance in detail.

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Provenance

Former collection of the French Commander Jean Sarrat (from 1946), and thence by descent in the family.

Literature

Archival documentation:

• 1911. First known plan of Preah Khan Temple. Lunet de Lajonquière, Étienne, Inventaire descriptif des monuments du Cambodge, vol. 3, p. 140, fig. 43. Gallica, Bibliothèque nationale de France.

• 24 April 1941. Journal de Fouilles No. XV by Maurice Glaize, years 1939–1942, pp. 197–198. École française d’Extrême-Orient (EFEO), BANYAN, EFEO digital library.

• 30 April 1941. Typed report of the Conservation du Groupe d’Angkor by Maurice Glaize, p. 2. EFEO, BANYAN, EFEO digital library.

• April 1941. Photograph of the deity head taken in April 1941 by an anonymous photographer. EFEO Archives, Cambodian photographic collection, inv. EFEO_CAM17481. Paris: École française d’Extrême-Orient.

• 1941. Angkor Conservation — Sculpture Depot — Registration ledger of stored objects. Begun in 1934, this inventory of objects deposited at the Angkor Conservation is now held in the archives of the Maison de l’Asie, Paris.
Inventory no. 3869 is recorded there, together with a note dated 16/09/1946: “To be given, see certificate no. 620”.

• 1942. Bulletin de l’École française d’Extrême-Orient, vol. 42 (1942), pp. 223–230.

• February 1942. Plan of the buildings in the south-west quadrant of the 1st enclosure of Preah Khan Temple. EFEO, BANYAN, EFEO digital library.

• August 1946. Typed report by J. Lagisquet, Conservator of the Angkor Monuments Group.

• 16 September 1946. Letter from Jacques Lagisquet, Conservator of the Angkor Monuments Group, to Commander Sarrat.

• 16 September 1946. Original certificate of non-classification no. 620, issued by the EFEO Archaeological Service of Angkor (then directed by Georges Coedès).

• 17 September 1946. Letter from Jacques Lagisquet to Commander Sarrat.