Sculpture
Sculpture
15th century (made)
15th century (made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
Monolithic figure of a guardian, standing frontally with his right arm held at his waist and his left hand resting on a club; sculpted in full relief from course stone.
Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Title | Sculpture (generic title) |
Materials and techniques | Monolithic, course (volcanic) stone |
Brief description | Monolithic guardian figure, Majapahit Style, East Java, Indonesia, ca. 15th century |
Physical description | Monolithic figure of a guardian, standing frontally with his right arm held at his waist and his left hand resting on a club; sculpted in full relief from course stone. |
Dimensions |
|
Style | |
Gallery label |
|
Object history | Previously idenified as Bhima, one of the Pandava brothers of the Indian Epic Mahabharata, whose cult enjoyed great popularity during the closing years of the Majapahit reign. Bhima is conventionally represented as having coarse features, an erect penis and his hair swept up into an elaborate coiffure with his curly hair tied in a ribbon and sports a large handlebar moustache, which echoes the stylization seen on later shadow puppets (wayang purwa). It may alternatively be Kertolo, one of the acolytes of Panji, the princely hero of a cycle of romantic tales which originated in the Majapahit Period. |
Historical context | Purchased from Spink & Son. |
Subject depicted | |
Bibliographic reference | Asia House Gallery Catalogue, Ancient Indonesian Art, New York 1971 by Jan Fontein a.o. p.63. |
Collection | |
Accession number | IS.11-1989 |
About this object record
Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
Record created | February 13, 2000 |
Record URL |
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest