Devi thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

Devi

Figure
ca.1800-1850 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The goddess stands in the tribhanga position with her left hand holding up a lotus blossom and the right one hanging by her side. She wears a breast band and has her hair piled up on her head in locks which swirl round on the right hand side of her head. This hairstyle together with the third eye that she has in the middle of her forehead suggest she is a Shaivite goddess, therefore the earlier identification as Lakshmi is probably erroneous. It has been suggested that she might be a consort of Karttikeya, Shiva's son, who is one of the most prominent deities in southern India and one of group of figure associated with a shrine. She stand on a lotus pedestal with fringed petals projecting at their ends out from the circular plinth which rests on a plain rectangular base.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleDevi (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Copper alloy, casting
Brief description
Goddess Devi, copper alloy, S.India, 1825-1875
Physical description
The goddess stands in the tribhanga position with her left hand holding up a lotus blossom and the right one hanging by her side. She wears a breast band and has her hair piled up on her head in locks which swirl round on the right hand side of her head. This hairstyle together with the third eye that she has in the middle of her forehead suggest she is a Shaivite goddess, therefore the earlier identification as Lakshmi is probably erroneous. It has been suggested that she might be a consort of Karttikeya, Shiva's son, who is one of the most prominent deities in southern India and one of group of figure associated with a shrine. She stand on a lotus pedestal with fringed petals projecting at their ends out from the circular plinth which rests on a plain rectangular base.
Dimensions
  • Height: 16.7cm
Object history
Transferred to the South Kensington Museum from the India Museum in 1879. The India Museum Slips number this object 375 and suggest with a question mark that it came from the Paris Universal Exhibition in 1855. It was described as a figure of Lakshmi, wife of Vishnu.
Subjects depicted
Collection
Accession number
615(IS)

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Record createdJuly 31, 2003
Record URL
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