Not currently on display at the V&A

Vishnu and consorts

Figure Shrine
19th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

A complete shrine, cast in five pieces- figures, base and arch. Vishnu stands straight in his usual samabhanga pose, holding a conch and chakra in his upper hands, his lower right hand in varada mudra and the lower left hand held outwards in the katyavambita gesture. He is flanked by two slightly smaller standing figures in tribhanga pose of the usual consorts associated with him in South India, Sridevi holding a pink lotus bud (padma) and wearing a breast band to his right and Bhudevi (the Earth goddess) with a blue lotus flower head with upright closed petals to his left. The base has lotus petals incised on the lowest tier and simple incised panels on its front. The cusped arch is topped by a kirtimukha mask and has a five-headed naga above Vishnu. The shrine has a copper colour and shows little wear.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleVishnu and consorts (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Bronze, casting
Brief description
Vishnu and consorts shrine, bronze, South India, ca. 1855
Physical description
A complete shrine, cast in five pieces- figures, base and arch. Vishnu stands straight in his usual samabhanga pose, holding a conch and chakra in his upper hands, his lower right hand in varada mudra and the lower left hand held outwards in the katyavambita gesture. He is flanked by two slightly smaller standing figures in tribhanga pose of the usual consorts associated with him in South India, Sridevi holding a pink lotus bud (padma) and wearing a breast band to his right and Bhudevi (the Earth goddess) with a blue lotus flower head with upright closed petals to his left. The base has lotus petals incised on the lowest tier and simple incised panels on its front. The cusped arch is topped by a kirtimukha mask and has a five-headed naga above Vishnu. The shrine has a copper colour and shows little wear.
Dimensions
  • Height: 17cm
  • 819th weight: g
Credit line
Transferred from the India Museum 1879
Object history
Transferred from the India Museum in London to the South Kensington Museum (now the V&A) in 1879. The India Museum Slip Book numbers ths object as 287 and records that it came from Cottoor, Madras and was acquired from the 1855 Universal Exhibition which took place in Paris.
Production
Tamil Nadu, South India
Subject depicted
Collection
Accession number
543(IS)

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Record createdJuly 31, 2003
Record URL
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