Bronzes Royaux d'Angkor, un art du divin | Royal Bronzes of Angkor

Combining the catalog of a large and unprecedented exhibition (see below) with a summary of the latest advances in multidisciplinary research on the Khmer art of bronze casting was a risky bet in terms of editorial balance. Space had to be left to the intrinsic beauty of the artworks, splendidly photographed in this artful lighting, and so the scientific contributions had to be both concise and detailed. In the end, there is much to read, to admire and to ponder.

The star medium here, bronze in its alloy variants through time — a topic by itself, thoroughly studied by several contributors along the production chain from mining to workshop techniques with some questions still pending, for instance how to explain the peak in lead content added to the copper-tin core alloy in the 12^th century, compared to other time periods? -, is certainly inducing an approach to Khmer art history different than stone. More versatile, more transportable (thus easier to hide or steal), bronze could also be used both in ritualistic and mundane objects, allowing novel glimpses on how ancient Khmer people worshipped their gods but also used mirrors or other elements of daily life. Meas Sreyneath, Dominique Soutif, Sebastien Clouet and Pierre Baptiste (pp 173 – 214) convincingly replace the temple utensils and ornaments of Ancient Cambodia in their ​“tantric context.”

Bronze and Mobility

From the corpus of inscriptions in Sanskrit and Khmer (here perused by Dominic Goodall, Chloé Chollet and Hun Chhunteng), we see langau (Old Khmer word that didn’t persist in modern times) or samrit (សំរិទ្ធ, subsisting in modern Khmer and often associated with ធិកណ្ដឹង kandoeng, bell, the same way English language refers to bronze with higher tin content as ​“bell-metal”), as well as gold and silver, used to cast utsavamurti, the idols of deities carried during joyous, festive processions. The 12^th century inscription of Preaj Khan (K. 908) mentions that at least 122 deities and their entourage have to be brought back to the temple in the month of Phalguna (Feb./March). These portable replicas of stone images staying in the cella of the temple, particularly popular in Shivaism, transport us back to moveable, festive and even raucous rituals full of music and dance, close to some village festivals still alive in modern Cambodia, or to the huge Shivaite processions in today’s South India.

Even with the imposing West Mebon statue of Vishnu — the length of which Henri Marchal estimated at four meters after its discovery in 1936, when he hadn’t yet identified the exceptional bronze piece as a murti of reclining Vishnu -, bronze seems to indicate movement, dynamic tension. In their groundbrreaking contribution (“La statue et le temple-îlot: récit ancien et données nouvelles” [“The Statue and the Temple-Islet: Ancient Narrative and New Data”, p 260 – 8], Olivier Cunin, Pierre Baptiste and Brice Vincent mention a novel reading of the Preah Vihear inscription K. 380 (piedroit E, stanza XVII) by Eric Bourdonneau: the temple-islet would have been initially projected by King Suryavarman I (r. 1002 – 3 or 1010 – 1050) as part of a network of linga-centered monuments (Suryavarmeshvara) ​“in various parts of the Kingdom”, and Ishtanathirta, interpreted here as ​“the ford of Shiva”, might have been the West Mebon. The 3D modelings presented by Olivier Cunin show the reclining Vishnu lying on a round structure, similar to the coping of a well, which would have been the stand for a giant (8‑meter high) tubular linga.

Even if the initial plan was to be dropped by Suryavarman I’s successor, Udayadityavarman II (r. 1050 – 1066), these new perspectives on bronze art speak once again of fluidity: tirtha, in the Indian subcontinent, refers to a ​“holy place” and especially to a destination for pilgrims. The practice of moving around a sacred territory might not have been outspread to the four cardinal points like in the case of Bharata (ancient India), following a specific vision of symbolic spatiality, yet the geographical distribution of temples in ancient Cambodia might call for envisioning networks of local and more extended networks of pilgrimage.

Moreover, Gabrielle Abbé and Huot Samnang show how bronze also played its part — and so it is to these days — in the revitalization of Cambodian fine arts at the turn of the 20^th century even if, as they posit it, the production of Ecole des arts cambodgiens ​“became mired in the clichés of some Angkorian Golden Age.” The often creative tension between a nostalgia for Angkor and the yearning for modernity lies at the core of the ​“civilization process” of Cambodia as it is reflected in Martin Polkinghorne’s [p 227 – 47] on one hand and Grégory Mikaelian’s contributions [p 223 – 7] on the other. The latter proposes the enticing concept of ​“constant Indianization” to illustrate how Cambodian elites, through cultural borrowings from neighboring or invading cultures (Siamese, Chinese, Malaysian, Vietnamese or French), managed to keep Khmer identity alive. 

Recovering the West Mebon Vishnu

The first publication of the Reclining Vishnu found in West Mebon by archaeologist Maurice Glaize​’s team in 1936 appeared in BEFEO 36, p 611 and 612a [see pdf via persee​.fr], part of the ​“Chronique de l’année 1936,” with a note by Henri Marchal we found useful to quote in extenso here as an addition to the whole section of the reviewed Bronzes royaux d’Angkor:

Conservation d’Ankor. — M. Marchal, chef du Service archéologique, a remis sur les travaux de la Conservation d’Ankor pendant l’année 1936 le rapport suivant: […] Mèbon occidental. — Au début de l’année, des indigènes qui faisaient des fouilles pour recueillir de l’or à proximité de ce monument apportèrent au Conservateur un naga et une main de bronze ; cette dernière mesurait 33 cm. de longueur et par conséquent provenait d’une statue nettement plus grande que la taille humaine. Des recherches furent entreprises à l’endroit où cette main avait été déterrée pour essayer de trouver le corps de la statue. Des débris de bronze sans importance provenant— sans doute de cette statue et des tuiles en terre cuite furent le seul résultat des fouilles; après dégagement du soubassement en grès qui constituait le massif central de ce temple, ce chantier fut abandonné. 

«Au mois de décembre, un Cambodgien ayant fait un rêve où le Buddha, prétendait-il, lui avait indiqué l’emplacement d’une statue enterrée depuis longtemps, découvrit à cet endroit même une tête colossale en bronze qui gisait à plus d’un mètre de profondeur sous le niveau du terre-plein central du temple. Un chantier fut immédiatement ouvert et les fouilles révélèrent un buste avec un bras double dont une des mains venait s’appliquer près de la tête ainsi que des morceaux de jambes et des débris divers en bronze également, fragments d’ornements, etc., provenant de cette statue, probablement un Visnu couché dont la longueur totale aurait été de plus de quatre mètres. Le crâne dont une partie manqué devait être coiffé d’ornements mobiles, car on né voit pas d’indication de cheveux, ni de diadème (pl. XCIII).

«Les fouilles né purent malheureusement pas faire découvrir le reste de cette statue, de très belle facture et unique par ses dimensions dans l’art du bronze du Cambodge et du Champa. Peut-être, en raison de la valeur du métal, le reste du corps fut-il volé pour être fondu.

« M. Glaize qui Га découverte fait remarquer dans son Rapport que « Tcheou Ta-kouan place dans le Lac oriental une tour de pierre avec un buddha couché en bronze, dont le nombril laisse constamment couler de l’eau ». « N’y aurait-il pas eu de sa part, ajoute M. Glaize, erreur d’orientation, cette indication se rapportant beaucoup plus aisément au Mébon occidental qu’à l’autre Mébon ?

« La facture en tout cas semble de bonne époque qui peut être celle du monument. C’est une oeuvre d’art avec toutes les caractéristiques de la statuaire khmère, un réel souci des formes et dont l’expression sereine et bienveillante tout en restant traditionnelle donne plutôt la sensation d’un portrait que d’une image impersonnelle et strictement de convention. Cette statue en bronze creux de 7 à 15 mm d’épaisseur a pris par son séjour prolongé dans la terre une belle patine verte, mais aussi une surface rugueuse et grenue. Sous la couche d’oxyde de cuivre, la cassure de l’alliage est violette et, en surface, des lamelles de métal dont nous né nous expliquons pas le rôle et dont beaucoup sont arrachées ont été noyées dans la masse. »

«Le dégagement de l’endroit où gisait ce fragment de statue a montré un puits en grès appareillé avec joints rayonnants de о m. 55 de côté et d’une profondeur de 2 m. 70 ; il était dallé au fond et présentait une petite cavité irrégulière. 

«Toute la partie Sud-Ouest du puits avait été démolie sans doute avant d’y précipiter la statue pour s’emparer du dépôt précieux qui devait se trouver à cet endroit.

Conservation of Ankor. — Monsieur Marchal, head of the Archaeological Service, submitted the following report on the work of the Conservation of Ankor during 1936: […] West Mebon. — At the beginning of the year, natives who were excavating for gold near this monument brought the Conservator a naga and a bronze hand; the latter measured 33 cm in length and therefore came from a statue significantly larger than human size. Research was undertaken at the site where this hand had been unearthed in an attempt to find the body of the statue. Unimportant bronze debris — probably from this statue — and terracotta tiles were the only results of the excavations; after the sandstone base that formed the central mass of this temple had been cleared, the site was abandoned. 

“In December, a Cambodian man, having had a dream in which the Buddha, he claimed, had shown him the location of a long-buried statue, discovered on that very spot a colossal bronze head lying more than a meter deep below the level of the temple’s central platform. A construction site was immediately opened, and excavations revealed a bust with a double arm, one of whose hands was placed near the head, as well as pieces of legs and various bronze debris, fragments of ornaments, etc., from this statue, probably a reclining Visnu whose total length would have been more than four meters. The skull, part of which is missing, must have been adorned with movable ornaments, as there is no indication of hair or a diadem (Plate XCIII).

“Unfortunately, the excavations were unable to uncover the rest of this statue, which is very beautifully crafted and unique in its dimensions in the bronze art of Cambodia and Champa. Perhaps, due to the value of the metal, the rest of the body was stolen to be melted down.

“Mr. Glaize, who discovered it, notes in his report that ​“Tcheou Ta-kouan placed in the Eastern Lake a stone tower with a bronze reclining Buddha, from whose navel water constantly flows.” ​“Could there not have been an orientation error on his part,” adds Mr. Glaize, ​“since this indication relates much more easily to the West Mebon than to the other Mebon?”

“The workmanship, in any case, seems to be from a good period, which could be that of the monument. This is a work of art with all the characteristics of Khmer statuary, a real attention to form, and whose serene and benevolent expression, while remaining traditional, gives the impression of a portrait rather than an impersonal and strictly conventional image. This statue made of hollow bronze 7 to 15 mm thick. thick has acquired a beautiful green patina from its prolonged stay in the soil, but also a rough, grainy surface. Beneath the layer of copper oxide, the break line of the alloy is purple. On the surface, metal strips, the purpose of which is unclear and many of which were torn off, have been embedded in the mass.”

“The excavation of the place where this fragment of statue lay revealed a sandstone well with radiating joints, 0.55 meters on each side and 2.70 meters deep; it was paved at the bottom and had a small, irregular cavity.

“The entire southwest part of the well had probably been demolished before the statue was thrown down to seize the precious deposit that must have been located there.

Back to the book, the chapter ​“Préservation et restauration d’un chef-d’œuvre de l’art khmer” [Preservation and Restoration of a Khmer Art Masterpiece] by Von Noeun, Jane Échinard, Stéphane Lemoine & Loretta Rossetti is brief [p 288 – 90] yet really informative and to the point. Excerpts: 

Les premières campagnes de restauration (1950−2017)

À la suite de la découverte du Vishnou du Mebon occidental en décembre 1936, le buste (cat. 195) et la plupart des fragments de la statue sont déposés dans les locaux de la Conservation d’Angkor, á Siem Reap. En décembre 1950, peu après leur transfert au Musée national du Cambodge, à Phnom Penh, les équipes du musée réintègrent l’avant-bras droit postérieur sur le buste, et ren-forcent l’assemblage du bras antérieur, au moyen de mortier. Si les deux mains (cat. 194, 201), elles aussi trouvées au temple du Mebon occidental, sont envoyées à Phnom Penh des août 1950, le fragment de cheville (cat. 200) n’y parvient quant à lui qu’en 1970, en même temps que l’ensemble des collections métalliques de la Conservation d’Angkor. Plus tard, en 1972, une série de dix-sept fragments sont restaurés par In Rom et le Laboratoire de restauration des métaux archéo logiques (1964−1974), selon des protocoles développés par Albert France-Lanord (1915−1993). impliquant notamment l’usage de tissus de fibre de verre imbibés de résine polyester, de cire et de vernis Bedacryl. En 2006, le Metal Conservation Laboratory, mis en place un an plus tôt au sein du Musée national du Cambodge grâce au soutien scientifique des Freer and Sackler Galleries (Paul Jett et Sean Charette), entreprend la conservation du buste du Vishnou et traite, en particulier, la corrosion active pulvérulente qui se manifeste en certains endroits; cette opération est renouve lée en 2017 lorsque la surface du métal montre à nouveau une même corrosion active. 2006 est aussi l’année où un nouveau support en acier, fixé au socle en bois du buste et doublé d’une empreinte en résine époxy, est mis au point, il est remplacé en 2025 dans le cadre du Projet Vishnu.

Le Projet Vishnu (2019−2025)

Pour construire le projet de conservation-restauration du Vishnou du Mebon occidental, sont interrogés à la fois son état physico-chimique, sa matérialité et sa représentativité, sa signification pour la société qui l’a produit, utilisé, abandonné et celle qui le conserve, qui le valorise, pour lesquelles il fait sens commun. 

La première étape du travail consiste à mettre en place un constat d’état / diagnostic qui permet d’étudier et de comprendre l’objet. Dans le cas de ce grand bronze, la quantité et la qualité des informations réunies par l’étude préalable sont uniques, et constituent une opportunité rare pour le laboratoire Arc’Antique de s’inscrire dans un projet interdisciplinaire d’une grande richesse.

Les solutions apportées doivent prendre en compte à la fois le projet d’exposition en France, l’itinérance de l’objet et ses futures conditions d’exposition à son retour au Cambodge. Les problématiques de conservation-restauration peuvent se regrouper en trois thèmes :

• l’amélioration de la lisibilité de la surface et des volumes;
• l’évaluation de sa stabilité physico-chimique;
• la cohérence mécanique des différents fragments en vue du remontage.

Ces objectifs né sont pas hiérarchisés et les solutions apportées doivent permettre d’y répondre en prenant en compte les possibles impacts de la mise en œuvre sur les autres problématiques (notamment la stabilité). C’est la phase de l’étude préalable, qui permet de consolider les étapes du projet et de valider les méthodes à mettre en œuvre.

“The First Restoration Campaigns (1950−2017)

Following the discovery of the Vishnu of the West Mebon in December 1936, the bust (cat. 195) and most of the statue fragments were deposited at Siem Reap Angkor Conservation Center. In December 1950, shortly after their transfer to the National Museum of Cambodia in Phnom Penh, the museum’s teams reattached the posterior right forearm to the bust and reinforced the assembly of the forearm with mortar. While the two hands (cat. 194, 201), also found at the West Mebon temple, were sent to Phnom Penh in August 1950, the ankle fragment (cat. 200) did not arrive there until 1970, along with the entire metal collection of the Angkor Conservation Center. Later, in 1972, a series of seventeen fragments were restored by In Rom and the Laboratory for the Restoration of Archaeological Metals (1964−1974), according to protocols developed by Albert France-Lanord (1915−1993), notably involving the use of fiberglass fabrics soaked in polyester resin, wax and Bedacryl varnish. In 2006, the Metal Conservation Laboratory, established a year earlier within the National Museum of Cambodia thanks to the scientific support of the Freer and Sackler Galleries (Paul Jett and Sean Charette), undertook the conservation of the Vishnu bust and treated, in particular, the active powdery corrosion that appeared in certain places; this operation was again conducted in 2017 when the surface of the metal again showed the same active corrosion. 2006 was also the year in which a new steel support, attached to the bust’s wooden base and lined with an epoxy resin cast, was developed. It would be replaced in 2025 as part of the Vishnu Project.

The Vishnu Project (2019−2025)

To develop the conservation-restoration project for the West Mebon Vishnu, it is necessary to consider its physicochemical condition, its materiality and representativeness, and its significance for the society that produced, used, and abandoned it, as well as for the society that conserves and values it, for which it has a shared relevance.

The first stage of the work consists of establishing a condition report/​diagnosis that allows for the study and understanding of the object. In the case of this large bronze object, the quantity and quality of information gathered by the preliminary study are unique, and constitute a rare opportunity for the Arc’Antique laboratory to be involved in a rich interdisciplinary project.

The suggested solutions had to take into account the exhibition project in France, the traveling nature of the object, and its future exhibition conditions upon its return to Cambodia. The conservation-restoration issues can be grouped into three themes:

• improving the legibility of the surface and volumes;
• evaluating its physicochemical stability;
• ensuring the mechanical consistency of the various fragments for reassembly.

These objectives are not ranked, and the suggested solutions must address them while taking into account the possible impacts of the implementation on other issues (particularly stability). This is the preliminary study phase, which allows for the consolidation of the project’s stages and the validation of the methods to be implemented.

_______________________

Further reading: In 2018, the following paper considered the West Mebon fieldwork of CAST:ING project (Copper Alloy Sculpture Techniques
and history: an International iNterdisciplinary Group).

Aurélia Azéma, Pierre Baptiste, Jane Bassett, Francesca G Bewer, Ann Boulton, David Bourgarit, Manon Castelle, Laurence Garenne-Marot, Huot Samnang, Elsa Lambert, Susan La Niece, Jeff Maish, Mathilde Mechling, B. Mille B., Dominique Robcis, Donna K. Strahan, Annick Texier, Brice Vincent, Jeremy Warren, Ittai Weinryb, Jean-Marie Welter, Angkorian Founders and Bronze Casting Skills: First Technical Investigation of the West Mebon Visnu. Bulletin de l’Ecole française d’Extrême-Orient 104 – 1, 2018, p 303 – 341. 

A one-of-a-kind exhibition

By its scope (some 200 artefacts), its spectacular staging — with a scenography by Guicciardini&Magni Architetti agency in coordination with the Guimet team -, the collaboration between the two main institutions depository of Khmer art worldwide — National Museum of Cambodia and Musée Guimet -, this unprecedented exhibition has already kindled the interest of the general public. 

Inaugurated by Mme Yannick Lintz, president of Guimet Museum, and Cambodia’s Minister of Culture and Fine Arts HE Phoeurng Sackona, under the high patronage of French President Emmanuel Macron and HM King Norodom Sihamoni of Cambodia, the major cultural event was also set apart by the active involvement of EFEO researchers and restoration experts, and by the fact that its most striking art piece, the Mebon Vishnu, had just undergone a thorough scientific analysis and restoration at Arc’Antique laboratory in Nantes, France.

In addition to the artefacts kept at NMC and Guimet- many of the latter having been brought to France as early as in the 1870s by French explorers Louis Delaporte, Etienne Aymonier and Lucien Fournereau -, some rarely seen pieces were on loan from the EFEO collection, the Musée des Arts Asiatiques in Nice, the Musée de l’Homme and Musée du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac (Paris), and from Aziz Bassoul’s and Philippe and Keo Daumont’s private collections.

The name of Douglas Latchford (1931−2020), the rogue art dealer involved in looted Khmer art trafficking and co-editor with partner-in-crime Emma Bunker of the extensive study on the subject — Khmer Bronzes: New Interpretations of the Past, Chicago, Art Media Ressources, 2011. Several exhibits were pieces restituted to Cambodia after Latchford’s death, or ​“donated” by him to the National Museum of Cambodia in 2008 and 2009. 

Gods of Angkor. Bronzes from the National Museum of Cambodia, an earlier exhibition on the same theme held at Freer and Sackler Galleries, Washington D. C. (15 May 2010 – 23 Jan. 2011), was more limited in size and depth. 

Due to the complex preparation of the Guimet exhibition, no Khmer bronze artefact was shown at another important international artshow: Asian Bronze at the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum, reflecting 4000 years of Asian bronze through rarely seen masterpieces — from prehistoric objects to contemporary artworks — from India, China, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan, Nepal and Korea (27 Sep 2024-12 Jan 2025). When Angkor Database asked the Rijksmuseum curator about this absence of Cambodia, Anna Ślączka remarked: ​“It is sad, but preparing objects for travel is a lot of work and most museums wouldn’t lend the same objects too often. It’s simply not practical. And you also do not want your showpieces to be away for too long…Some important objects can only travel once a year or once in two years. Too much administrative work, and for some very important objects perhaps too much traveling. So, these are all practical issues and if two similar (or kind of) exhibitions fall in roughly the same time, we can’t do much.”