| The imposing statue of the Bosatsu, which was | | | | number of objects in the collection of Anton Exner, |
| created for a large, previously unknown Buddhist | | | | who was known in Vienna as an art dealer and |
| temple in Japan, was manufactured on the basis of | | | | expert on Asia, after the relocation of the son Walter |
| the stylistic characteristics about 1830. | | | | Exner to Frankenau, and later to Bad Wildungen. A |
| Heinrich von Siebold (1852-1908), the second son of the | | | | wider audience, it was shown in 1956 on the occasion |
| Japanese scholar Philipp Franz von Siebold, brought it | | | | of the Buddha-anniversary year in the exhibition in |
| about 1880 to Vienna. He came in 1869 in his early | | | | Frankenau "2500 years of Buddha and Buddhism." |
| years to Japan, where he found a position at the | | | | From 1964 to 1977 it was part of the permanent |
| Austro-Hungarian embassy in Tokyo. At that time, | | | | exhibition at the Museum of the Asia-Exner Family in |
| Japan was in every sense of upheaval. Many Buddhist | | | | Bad Wildungen. |
| temples were closed and fell gradually. Buddhist | | | | Unforgettable are the two major exhibitions in |
| paintings, sculptures, ritual objects and Others were | | | | Darmstadt 1973 "East Asian Art - collection called |
| destroyed or sold cheap. Many foreigners took | | | | Exner" - for the first time as "Monju Bosatsu" and 1978 |
| advantage of the hour. Even Heinrich von Siebold | | | | in Krems on the Danube "4000 years of East Asian |
| collected with care and expertise, not only in their own | | | | Art", where this figure was much admired. |
| interest but also for the emerging Viennese museums. | | | | Finally, Mr. Walter Exner had to close the exhibition |
| Since the Vienna World Exhibition of 1873, where he | | | | rooms in Bad Wildungen and break down its |
| worked as an interpreter of the Japanese delegation, | | | | collections. In 1984 he sold the statue of Monju to the |
| he had the best contacts there. Since the market in | | | | Viennese art dealer wave. |
| Japan, he as good as any other, knew there were | | | | For the exhibition of 1990 Hidden Impressions, |
| agreements with other major museums, for | | | | Japonisme in Vienna from 1870 to 1930 at the Museum |
| ethnographical collections they purchased. | | | | of Applied Arts (MAK), the former trade museum, the |
| As early as 1883 in Vienna was the first exhibition of | | | | statue of Monju, shown as a loan from the Kunsthaus |
| his collection, which he would then sell to the Austrian | | | | Zacke, again in a similar ensemble as in 1905. |
| State. After his offer was rejected, he left the state | | | | Finally, we find in Oct. 1994, the statue in the catalog of |
| one of the exhibits as a gift. Since the lists and files | | | | the auction house Dorotheum, Vienna, offered for sale. |
| from this time are not preserved, one can not say | | | | The award brought 3.2 million Austrian schillings (about |
| precisely whether the statue of the Bodhisattva was | | | | $ 300 000 ), according to press reports of the highest |
| found included. What is certain is that it bears the still | | | | ever offered for a Japanese Buddha statue price. The |
| existing inventory number 3859 of the Oriental | | | | figure, however, was never picked up, name and |
| Museum, which was from 1875 to 1886 and was | | | | address of the alleged buyer was unknown. |
| subsequently renamed "Austrian Trade Museum. In the | | | | At the initiative and through the mediation of Dr. |
| inventory of 1892 are inter alia "Three Buddhist | | | | Cornelia Morper, expert in art and antiques from East |
| sculptures" mentioned, which could include the Bosatsu. | | | | Asia, Würzburg, and after protracted negotiations |
| In 1905, a major exhibition of the Viennese collections | | | | could Constantin von Brandenstein-Zeppelin, president |
| held in the Museum of Art and Industry, entitled | | | | of the Siebold Company, the figure from the Vienna |
| "Exhibition of older Japanese art" takes place, when | | | | art market and repurchase them for as the |
| the statue was displayed at a central location, referred | | | | descendants the family Siebold, for Würzburg and |
| to here only as a "figure of the Buddha." | | | | the public receive. |
| In 1943 the figure reached in exchange for a large | | | | |