Medallion from a pot depicting a bearded figure, possibly a bodhisattva
Details
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Title
Medallion from a pot depicting a bearded figure, possibly a bodhisattva
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Associated place
Khotan (place of creation)Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province (former location) -
Date
5th - 6th century AD (AD 401 - 600) -
Material and technique
terracotta, stamped or moulded, and painted
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Material index
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Technique index
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Object type
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Dimensions
6 x 8 x 1 cm (height x width x depth) -
No. of items
1
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Credit line
Presented by Mrs Alethea Pitt, 1984.
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Museum location
Museum department
Eastern Art
Accession no.
EA1984.26
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Catalogue text
The appliqué medallion, with its pearl border, was part of a large pot, of which there is an intact example in the Museum für Indische Kunst, West Berlin, similarly decorated with round medallions surrounded by a pearl band, but where the motifs in its medallions are of Indian or classical inspiration, as are the appliqué lion masks of [EAX.68], the bearded figure in the Museum’s example show stylistic affinities to art further east. In particular, the hooked eyebrows are reminiscent of the famous wall painting of Mahākāśyapa from Kyzil.
This and several other small terracottas from Khotan were acquired by Sir Armine Dew in the North West Frontier Province in the 1920s.In: Harle, J. C., and Andrew Topsfield, Indian Art in the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 1987)
Further reading
Harle, J. C., and Andrew Topsfield, Indian Art in the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 1987), no. 36b on p. 28, illus. p. 28
Reference URL
