Object Details
Provenance
Between 1965 and 2009-2017
Alice S. Kandell, method of acquisition unknown [1]
From 2017
National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, gift of Alice S. Kandell [2]
Notes:
[1] See Marylin M. Rhie and Robert A.F. Thurman, “A Shrine for Tibet: The Alice S. Kandell Collection,” (New York and London: Tibet House US, in association with Overlook Duckworth and Peter Mayer Publishers, 2009), cat. VI-14, p. 248.
Alice S. Kandell began collecting Tibetan art in 1965 when she first visited Sikkim. She collected on her own between 1965 and the early 1990s. During the early 1990s, she met fellow collector Phillip J. Rudko, and he assisted Kandell with building her personal collection. Kandell eventually acquired Rudko’s personal collection, which he began amassing after 1959.
Alice S. Kandell is a private collector, who for decades acquired hundreds of bronze sculptures, thangkas, textile banners, painted furniture and ritual implements. Her interest in Tibetan art and culture began during her college years, when she took the first of many trips to Sikkim, Tibet and Ladakh. Throughout her career as a child psychologist in New York, she continued to pursue her love of Tibetan Buddhist sacred art, traveling, collecting and documenting the art and culture of the region in two books of photography, “Sikkim: The Hidden Kingdom” (Doubleday) and “Mountaintop Kingdom: Sikkim” (Norton).
[2] See the original Deed of Gift, dated March 18, 2011, copy in object file for S2011.10.
The object is part of the museum’s Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection.
Research updated January 10, 2025
Collection
Arthur M. Sackler Collection
Exhibition History
The Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room (March 12, 2022 - ongoing)
Encountering the Buddha: Art and Practice Across Asia (October 14, 2017 to February 6, 2022)
Doorway to an Enlightened World: The Tibetan Shrine from the Alice S. Kandell Collection (March 19 to November 27, 2016)
The Tibetan Shrine from the Alice S. Kandell Collection (March 13, 2010 to November 27, 2016)
Previous custodian or owner
Alice S. Kandell
Credit Line
The Alice S. Kandell Collection
Date
18th century
Accession Number
S2017.44.1-2a-e
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Type
Musical Instrument
Medium
Hardwood, silver, gilding, and turquoise
Dimensions
H x W: 61 x 15.2 cm (24 x 6 in)
Origin
Lhasa, Tibet
On View
East Building (Arthur M. Sackler Gallery), Gallery 26a: The Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room
See more items in
National Museum of Asian Art
Data Source
National Museum of Asian Art
Topic
wood
Buddhism
wind instrument
Tibet
South Asian and Himalayan Art
Alice S. Kandell Collection
Link to Original Record
Record ID
fsg_S2017.44.1-2a-e