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A female dancer
A female dancer

A female dancer

Place of OriginBinh Dinh province, Vietnam; Binh Dinh province, former kingdoms of Champa, former kingdoms of Champa
Dateapprox. 1075-1125
MaterialsSandstone
DimensionsH. 28 in x W. 13 1/2 in x D. 8 in, H. 71.1 cm x W. 34.3 cm x D. 20.3 cm
Credit LineGift of the Christensen Fund
Object numberBL77S3
DepartmentSoutheast Asian Art
ClassificationsSculpture
On View
On view
Location
  • Gallery Location   Gallery 9
Text Entries

This figure was once installed, together with other sculptures, flanking the now-missing main image in a temple built some nine hundred years ago by the people of one of the kingdoms of Champa in today’s Vietnam. It isn’t certain whether the temple was Buddhist or Hindu.

Dance seems to have been an important part of festivities and religious ceremonies in Champa, as numerous sculptural depictions suggest. This figure’s splayed knee pose was and is common in artistic representations of South and Southeast Asian dance, as well as in current dance practices.