Head of Siva, cast bronze sculpture, early 12th century, Cambodia

Although this head, with its distinctive vertical third eye can be identified with Siva, such features are also shared by images of Harihara (a syncretic form combining the features of Siva and Visnu). Unlike the Pre-Angkorian representations which display the features of Siva and Visnu on opposite sides of the body (compare the stone head of Harihara on display - IS 32-1988) sculptures of the Angkorian period show Siva's marking on the head while holding the attributes of Visnu in the hands.

Given by David Knight

This object was formerly in the collection of Gilbert Beatty (1887–1967), born Richard John Beatty (also spelled Beattie). Between 1911 and 1951, Beatty worked in various administrative positions at rubber plantations and in government in Malacca, Malaysia. He assembled a large collection of South-East Asian art before the Second World War. In the late 1950s, he became friendly with his neighbours, the Knight family. David Knight (d. 1993), who was then a child, took a particular interest in Beatty’s collection, which he often saw during visits to Beatty’s home-cum-guest house, ‘Palm Beach.’

In 1960, Gilbert Beatty gave much of his collection to David Knight. The objects were shipped to the UK with the rest of the Knight family’s possessions later that year aboard HMS Oxford Castle. Beatty reportedly donated the remainder of his collection to a local museum. Between 1991 and his death in 1993, David Knight donated or sold much of the Beatty Collection to the Victoria & Albert Museum.

See Victoria & Albert Museum registered file numbers 1991/2044, 1993/599, 1993/600, 1993/823

Cambodia

IS.180-1991