Metropolitan Museum VI

Figure of a Bull Serpentine Indus Valley Mature Harappan period, 2600-1900 BC Accession # 1986.280 Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.

Reclining mouflons (wild sheep), Mature Harappan; 2600–1900 B.C. Indus Valley Marble; L. 28 cm Purchase, Anonymous Gift and Rogers Fund, 1978 (1978.58) This powerful sculpture represents a mouflon, a type of wild sheep native to the highland regions of the Near East. The animal's head, now partially broken away, is held upward and is twisted to the right, creating an impression of alertness. The artist has achieved a realistic rendering of an animal at rest, its weight thrown fully onto its left haunch, and its left hind leg tucked under its body. The bottom of the statue has been worn away, but it is likely that the hidden leg was originally indicated there. The entire body is contained within a single unbroken outline. The horns, ears, tail, and muscles were modeled in relief, although time and secondary use have flattened the contours on the right side. This combination of closed outline with broadly modeled masses and a minimum of incised detail is characteristic of animal sculpture from the Harappan-period levels at the site of Mohenjo Daro in the lower reaches of the Indus River. The function of these animal sculptures is unknown. Text from: www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/collection_database/ancien...

Female-Shaped Vessel Pakistan (Northwest Frontier Province, probably Swat Valley), 1st millennium BC Terracotta Accession # 1984.219 Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.

Figures Riding an Elephant India (Uttar Pradesh, Kaushambi), Shunga period, 1st century BC Terracotta Accession # 1987.142.378 Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.

Title: Stamp seal fragment: unicorn and incense-burner (?), inscription Period: Mature Harappan Date: ca. 2600–1900 B.C. Geography: Indus Valley Medium: Steatite, burnt Dimensions: Seal Face: 3.87 x 3.87 cm Height: 1.97 cm Classification: Stone-Stamp Seals, Inscribed Credit Line: Dodge Fund, 1949 Accession Number: 49.40.3 Text from: www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/collection_database/ancien...

Seated Mother Goddesses Pakistan (Baluchistan), Indus civilization, Mehrgarh style, ca. 3000-2500 BC Terracotta Accession # 2001.305 or 2001.306 ? Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.

Lion Kushan empire, Gandhara region, 2nd-3rd century AD Schist Accession Number: 32.70 Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label

Lion Kushan empire, Gandhara region, 2nd-3rd century AD Schist Accession Number: 32.70 Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label

A Pair of Royal Earrings, ca. 1st century B.C. probably Andhra Pradesh, India Gold; Each H. 1 1/2 in. (3.8 cm); W. 3 in. (7.6 cm); L. 1 9/16 in. (4 cm) Gift of The Kronos Collections, 1981 (1981.398.3–.4) The place of these earrings in the history of Indian art is assured, not only for their intrinsic beauty but also because of the light they shed on the superb quality of goldsmithing early in this region. Early Indian statues of both male and female figures were usually portrayed wearing elaborate jewelry that sometimes seemed fanciful, since very little comparable jewelry from that period survives. The discovery of this pair of earrings provided the first tangible evidence that the jewelry depicted by sculptors was in fact based on real models, for a very similar pair is shown on a first century B.C. relief portrait of a "Universal Ruler" (chakravartin), from Jaggayapeta. These earrings, judging from their material worth, excellence of craftsmanship, and use of royal emblems (a winged lion and an elephant) as part of their design, were most probably made as royal commissions. Each earring is composed of two rectangular, budlike forms growing outward from a central, double-stemmed tendril. The elephant and the lion of repoussé gold are consummately detailed, using granules, snippets of wire and sheet, and individually forged and hammered pieces of gold. The two pieces are not exactly identical: on the underside they are both decorated with a classical early Indian design of a vase containing three palmettes, but the patterning of the fronds differentiates them. They are so large and heavy that they must have distended the earlobes and rested on the shoulders of the wearer, like the pair worn by the "Universal Ruler." Text from: www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/viewOne.asp?dep=6&view...

Terracotta Rattle in the form of a Yaksha Accession Number: 1990.310 Terracotta Rattle in the form of a Yaksha Accession Number: 1992.73 These terracotta rattles in the form of yakshas (male nature spirits) are from Chandraketugarh in the Indian state of West Bengal; they date from the Shunga period, first century BC Text from the Metropolitan Museum label

Title/Object Name: Rattle in the Form of a Crouching Grotesque Yaksha (Male Nature Spirit) Culture: India Period: Shunga period Date: 1st century B.C. Medium: Terracotta Dimensions: H. 6 in. (15.2 cm) Classification: Sculpture Credit Line: Gift of Subhash Kapoor, in memory of Anthony Gardner, 1992 Accession Number: 1992.190 Text from: www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/collection_database/asian_...

Title/Object Name: Plaque with a Royal Family Culture: India (West Bengal, Chandraketugarh) Period: Shunga period Date: 1st century B.C. Medium: Terracotta Dimensions: H. 12 3/4 in. (32.5 cm); W. 10 1/4 in. (26 cm) Classification: Sculpture Credit Line: Purchase, Florence and Herbert Irving Gift, 1992 Accession Number: 1992.129 On View Text from: www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/collection_database/asian_... and This extremely fine early Indian molded terracotta plaque portrays a secular subject in an unusually robust style. As is usual, there are two holes in the upper part of the plaque that probably allowed it to be suspended by means of a cord. The function of such plaques is unknown. It has been suggested that they either served as a votive purpose or were used as personal cult objects. Text excerpted from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.

Plaque with the goddess Durga and attendants, Shunga period (ca. 2nd–1st century b.c.), 1st century b.c. Chandraketugarh, West Bengal, India Terracotta 10 1/2 x 7 7/8 in. (26.7 x 20 cm) Purchase, Florence and Herbert Irving Gift, 1990 (1990.281) This plaque is one of the largest and most important early Indian molded terracottas known. The identity of the main figure, the principal subject of a number of such early Indian plaques, is uncertain. She may be an early depiction of the goddess Durga, who was not thought to be represented prior to the third century. After this date Durga is usually shown, in a narrative format, as the slayer of the buffalo demon Mahisha, her multiple hands holding a bevy of weapons. Here, she displays a more pacific mien, her arsenal stuck into her coiffure like hairpins. The Museum's plaque shows the goddess with female attendants and male(?) supplicants within a shrine(?). Two columns with lotus capitals bearing atlantid figures, most probably yakshas (male deities associated with the earth's bounty), support the roof. Durga stands with left hand on hip, right hand in a boon-bestowing gesture pointing to a bowl held by a supplicant. Aside from her militant aspect, Durga is also associated with prosperity and in later plaques, coins fall from her hand. Female attendants shield her with a parasol, hold fans of peacock feathers(?), and support a large standard(?). The head of a kneeling supplicant is seen at the right. The function of these plaques is unknown. They may have been offerings or icons for personal devotion. Text from: www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/04/ssa/ho_1990.281.htm

Plaque with a Dancer and a Vina Player India (Uttar Pradesh, Kaushambi), Shunga period, 1st century BC Terracotta Accession # 1987.142.376 Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.

Yakshi Holding a Crowned Child with a Visiting Parrot India (West Bengal), Shunga period, ca. 1st century BC Terracotta Accession # 2002.253 Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.

Auspicious Emblem: Loving Couple (Mithuna) India (Uttar Pradesh, Mathura), 1st-2nd century Double-molded terracotta Accession # 1986.506.11 Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.

Emblema with Aphrodite and Eros Mediterranean, ca. 1st-2nd century AD Plaster Accession # 1996.472 Similar plaster emblema from the Mediterranean were found at the Afghan site of Begram. Such trade goods were particularly important for the transmission of classical motifs and styles. Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.