FERENC HOPP MUSEUM OF EASTERN ASIATIC ARTS


	Celestial beauty Sandstone, North India 10^th–11^th century

The Indian and Southeast Asian Collection is the third largest collection at the Museum and comprises some 3,200 items. The overwhelming majority of these are Indian objects.

Ferenc Hopp, the founder of the Museum and the Collection, travelled in India in the course of his Oriental journeys; nevertheless, he collected considerably fewer Indian objects than Chinese or Japanese items. The actual foundation of the Collection is associated with Imre Schwaiger, art collector and art dealer of Hungarian origin, who lived in Delhi: between the two world wars he made several donations to the Museum. Among the private collectors who contributed their artworks to the Indian Collection, mention should be made of Béla Ágai, Ferenc Zajti and Dr Edmund de Unger.

Stone sculptures – despite their fragmentary nature and relatively low number – form one of the most valuable parts of the Indian Collection. 1^st–5^th century Buddhist sculpture – statues, fragments of friezes and stucco figures – from Gandhara, 9^th–12^th century Pala sculpture as well as Central and Northwest Indian sculpture of the 10^th–15^th centuries belong to this group of the collection the majority of which was donated by Imre Schwaiger. It was also him who donated the majority of our terracotta pieces dated to the Kushana and Gupta periods (2^nd–6^th centuries) as well as our 18^th-century carved wooden architectural pieces from Gujarat. The oldest item among our bronze statues is a 14th-century representation of Lakshmi from South India. Our earliest miniatures are pieces of the Mughal School and date back to the 17^th century. The characteristic decorative art of the Mughal period is represented by jade objects inlaid with precious stones. Typical objects of everyday use are represented by Kashmiri lacquerware, brass and copper water-vessels (mainly collected by Ferenc Hopp) and bidri objects acquired from the Vienna World Fair of 1872. In our collection of textiles – much contributed to by Ferenc Zajti – there are numerous woven and embroidered types of Indian textile art, as well as pieces decorated with various dyeing techniques.

The Buddhist sculpture of Southeast Asia is mainly represented by 18^th–19^th-century pieces from Thailand, Burma and Vietnam; the oldest item is a 17^th century Buddha head from Ayutthaya. The 19th century painted wooden carvings from Burma form another noteworthy group of the Southeast Asian Collection. Javanese court art is represented by wayang figures, Krises and batik textiles. Another item to be mentioned is a Javanese stele depicting Shiva from the 13^th century. The finest pieces of Southeast Asian ceramic art in our collection are small-sized Savankhalok ceramic items from Thailand and Vietnamese celadons.

Zsuzsanna Renner


Shri Lakshmi Bronze, South India, 14^th century		Durga Mahishasuramardani Black marble, South India 19^th century


Maravijaya Buddha Gilt bronze, Thailand 17^th–18^th century		Maravijaya Buddha Gilt bronze, Thailand 18^th century