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Iko after an original, Bodhisattva Manjusri, trachyte, 113 x 68 x 58 cm, Indies hall, Noordeinde palace, The Hague, objectnr. B-211 

This statue personifies wisdom, protecting art and crafts and those who practice them (Wassing-Visser, Royal Gifts, 144). The statue is a copy of a statue that was displayed under number 246 in the museum of the Batavian Society of Arts and Sciences, but was located in Berlin in 1906. The Museum für Asiatische Kunst in Berlin later sent a plaster cast and a photograph to the Dutch East Indies as a model, for Iko to work on. The original statue is believed to have come from Candi Jago (probably removed by Nicolaus Engelhard in 1802). The back of the seat is reminiscent of statues at this temple, as is the lotus flower and stem ornament on it. Iko’s copy was created under the direction of the Inspector of Education C. den Hamer. The sword with which this bodhisattva is equipped is striking. The statue is still in the Indische Zaal (Indonesian Hall) in The Hague.


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