{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O456203"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O456203/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2020MU1485/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2020MU1485/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2020MU1485","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O456203/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O456203","accessionNumber":"IM.155-1910","objectType":"Figure","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"","physicalDescription":"Figure of Samanta-bhadra, of copper or bronze, finely cast and chased, overlaid with gold. Eight-armed figure of the Tantrik order, holding sword, arrow, bow, <i>dorje,</i> book, cord, lotus-flower and wheel in the various hands; seated on a lotus-throne supporting his female reflex <i>(sakti)</i>on his right knee.","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"copper","id":"AAT11020"}],"techniques":[{"text":"casting","id":"AAT53104"},{"text":"chasing","id":"AAT54016"},{"text":"gilding","id":"AAT53789"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Copper, cast and chased, overlaid with gold","categories":[{"text":"Metalwork","id":"THES48920"},{"text":"Figures","id":"THES274372"},{"text":"Sculpture","id":"THES48896"},{"text":"Religion","id":"THES48900"},{"text":"Buddhism","id":"THES48984"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SSEA","id":"THES48598"},"images":["2020MU1485"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"003","id":"THES365231"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Figure","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Tibet","id":"x29910"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"c. 17th century","earliest":"1595-01-01","latest":"1703-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Purchased from the dealer Mr Imre Schwaiger","dimensions":[],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Provenance: Purchased from Imre Schwaiger in 1910, a well-known art dealer of Hungarian descent, with offices in London and colonial India (Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta, and Simla). This acquisition was part of a collection of Indian and Tibetan objects purchased by the V&A from Schwaiger in 1910 for £1000. \r\n\r\nA total of forty-nine objects produced or acquired in Tibet were procured from Schwaiger between 1910 and 1919, but it remains challenging to determine when, where and how they were acquired. In the V&A archives, we have some indication that some of the Tibetan objects from Schwaiger may have been looted or otherwise acquired in Tibet during the British military assault led by Colonel Francis Younghusband in 1903-04. However, recent scholarship by Dr Emma Martin (<i>Past & Present</i>, 2025) also establishes that Schwaiger acquired Tibetan objects in colonial India. He had cultivated close ties with the British colonial administration in India and was approached to appraise and acquire Tibetan objects from the 'Toshakhana', a British-instituted treasury that collected and processed diplomatic gifts. Some of the Tibetan objects collected by Schwaiger in India may have been diplomatic gifts from Tibet and its representatives, such as those sent by the thirteenth Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso, to the Viceroy of India, Charles Hardinge, and other British representatives during the Shimla Convention negotiations in 1913-14. According to Martin, the toshkhana also sold off diplomatic gifts received by colonial officers and agents based at British trading stations inside Tibet at Yatung, Gyantse, and Gartok.\r\n\r\nThe acquisition information for this object has been updated following provenance research conducted during the AHRC-funded 'Reanimating Tibetan Heritage' project (2024-2026).","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Figure of Samanta-bhadra with sakti, copper, cast, chased and gilt, monastic work, Tibet, 17th century type","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["IM.155-1910"],"accessionNumberNum":"155","accessionNumberPrefix":"IM","accessionYear":1910,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-04-08","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-25","availableToBook":true}}