Foliate Garuda

* Nearly 20,000 images of artworks the museum believes to be in the public domain are available to download on this site. Other images may be protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights. By using any of these images you agree to LACMA's Terms of Use.

Foliate Garuda

Indonesia, Eastern Java, 14th century
Sculpture
Buff earthenware
11 1/2 x 6 3/4 x 7 in. (29.2 x 17.1 x 17.8 cm)
Gift of Marilyn Walter Grounds (M.91.350.2)
Not currently on public view

Curator Notes

...
Eastern Javanese architectural ornaments made of earthenware display a wide variety of forms, including miniature temples, the cosmic Mount Meru, human and semidivine figures engaged in mundane and erotic activities, numerous animals and supernatural creatures in arboresque settings, and various vessels. See H. R. A. Muller, Javanese Terracottas: Terra Incognita (Lochem, The Netherlands: Tijdstroom, 1978), pp. 68-91, pls. 122-173. This architectural ornament likely represents a crouching mythical bird, Garuda, whose anatomical features are portrayed by various floral motifs and abstracted forms. He has bulging eyes, an upturned beak shaped more like a snout, fangs, and branch-like limbs with vegetal paws and claws. See also an Eastern Javanese Keris Handle with a Foliate Garuda (AC1998.249.268) that was later modified to serve as a netsuke.
More...

Bibliography

  • Pal, Pratapaditya. Icons of Piety, Images of Whimsy: Asian Terra-cottas from the Walter Grounds Collection. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1987.