Hunchback, or Bossu in French:

Hunchback, or Bossu in French:

We’ve already highlighted the damaged Lingapura Hunchback from the capital of Koh Ker in the tenth century, now on display at the National Museum. Another hunchback from the same era, the Damdek Hunchback, is also on show in the museum’s courtyard, in a more complete state. It was discovered in 1937 when Prasat Beng Vien (also known as Kok Prasat), close to Damdek on Highway 6, was excavated by a team from EFEO. A number of sculptures and inscriptions were uncovered at the same time. The head and one arm of the sandstone hunchback have been repaired, though the carving is indistinct and has either suffered from weathering over the centuries or was never completely finished. It was held at the Angkor Conservation depot in Siem Reap, until it was moved alongwith a massive cache of statues to safety in the basement of the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh in 1993, because of security concerns following a series of raids on the depot by Khmer Rouge rebels. It was handed-over to the National Museum in October 2002. Such figures, a chubby male with a distinct deformation of the back and the sternum became quite common in later Khmer statuary of the late twelfth and early thirteenth century, the Bayon period. Some were adorned, others not, though all were seated, with the left leg flat under his body and his foot sticking out at the back. His right knee is raised and that hand would hold a small weighing scale, the left hand would hold a spherical jewel. Examples of hunchbacks were found at the Bayon, Preah Khan and Preah Vihear in addition to bas-reliefs at Angkor Wat, Sambor Prei Kuk and Neak Pean. One suggestion is that he represents an important character, maybe a king, prince or god, or perhaps Kubera, the god of wealth; it was in popular fiction that Quasimodo’s character in The Hunchback of Notre-Dame offered up the perception of a courageous heart beneath a grotesque exterior. Hunchback sculptures from these temples are kept at Angkor Conservation, with perhaps the best preserved coming from Preah Khan, one of which has retained its head and body ornamentation. One of those found at Bayon can be seen in-situ at the temple today, albeit with a cement head.

 

Credit By :Andy Brouwer