Unknown
Celestial Nymphcirca 1450

Not on view

Carved stone sculpture of a standing female figure in a triple-bend posture, wearing beaded jewelry and a tiered coiffure, attached to a decorated architectural bracket

Marble architectural bracket figure of a female yakshi in tribhanga pose, adorned with carved jewelry, beaded necklaces, and anklets, set against a pillar fragment with pierced floral and scroll ornamentation, mounted on a wooden base.

Marble sculpture fragment of a female figure in tribhanga pose, wearing beaded necklaces, large circular earrings, and an ornate headdress; detailed carved jewelry and a rounded vessel at her side; pale stone with dark weathering.

Stone sculpture fragment of a female figure in three-quarter view, adorned with circular earrings, beaded necklaces, and an ornate headdress, her arm raised beside an architectural bracket with carved decorative relief, creamy stone with weathered surface.

Stone sculpture fragment of a standing figure in contrapposto pose, adorned with carved bead jewelry across the chest and ankles, wearing a draped lower garment; a lotus medallion is carved on an adjacent architectural element to the right.

Artist or Maker: Unknown
Title: Celestial Nymph
Place Made: India, Rajasthan
Date Made: circa 1450
Medium: Light yellow marble with black striations
Dimensions: 44 1/4 x 20 x 9 1/2 in. (112.4 x 50.8 x 24.13 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of The Ahmanson Foundation
Accession Number: M.80.62
Classification: Sculpture
Collecting Area: South and Southeast Asian Art
Curatorial Notes: Related iconographically to the slightly earlier representation of a celestial nymph also from Rajasthan (M.71.73.132), this larger and heavier sculpture served a different architectural function. It was most likely originally situated on an exterior wall of a Jain temple rather than as a bracket figure on the interior ceiling dome. The nymph twists at an acute angle to look towards the ground behind her. Her left arm goes over her head and may have once held a now-missing disk or other indeterminate object, while her raised right hand may have grasped its lower edge. She is richly adorned with jeweled ornaments and cascading strands of pearls. A long flowing scarf (dupatta) is around her shoulders, and another is knotted above her knees. The sculptor has taken delight in portraying the celestial nymph in a contorted dancing posture emphasizing her suppleness and has displayed considerable technical expertise in utilizing the dark striations of the rock to accentuate the swollen volumes of her breasts and other features. She stands beside a rectangular pillar or pilaster ornamented with a leonine face-of-glory (kirttimukha), a bell hanging from a chain, and a spandrel with a radiant quarter-lotus.

The sculpture was previously attributed stylistically to Ranakpur, the great 15th-century Jain temple complex in southern Rajasthan, but exterior sculptures from that site generally exhibit a more uniform geological matrix and the architectural ornamentations differ.
Selected Bibliography: Pal, Pratapaditya. Indian Sculpture, vol.2. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; University of California Press, 1988.
Pal, Pratapaditya; Dehejia, Vidya; Slusser, Mary Shepherd; Fisher, Robert E.; Brown, Robert L. Arts of Asia 15 (6): 68-125 (November- December 1985).
Newman, Richard. The Stone Sculpture of India: a Study of the Materials Used by Indian Sculptors from ca. 2nd Century B.C. to the 16th Century. Cambridge, MA: Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, Harvard University Art Museums, 1984.
Pal, Pratapaditya; S. Andhare; J. Cort; S. Gorakshakar; P. Granoff; J. Guy; G. Larson; Stephen Markel. The Peaceful Liberators: Jain Art from India. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1994.
El Universo de la India: Obras Maestras del Museo de Arte del Condado de Los Angeles. Santiago: Centro Cultural Palacio La Moneda, 2012.
Aitken, Molly Emma. "Introduction." In A Magic World: New Visions of Indian Painting, edited by Molly Emma Aitken, 10-19. Mumbai: Marg Foundation, 2016.

Unknown
Celestial Nymphcirca 1450

Not on view

Artist or Maker: Unknown
Title: Celestial Nymph
Place Made: India, Rajasthan
Date Made: circa 1450
Medium: Light yellow marble with black striations
Dimensions: 44 1/4 x 20 x 9 1/2 in. (112.4 x 50.8 x 24.13 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of The Ahmanson Foundation
Accession Number: M.80.62
Classification: Sculpture
Collecting Area: South and Southeast Asian Art
Curatorial Notes: Related iconographically to the slightly earlier representation of a celestial nymph also from Rajasthan (M.71.73.132), this larger and heavier sculpture served a different architectural function. It was most likely originally situated on an exterior wall of a Jain temple rather than as a bracket figure on the interior ceiling dome. The nymph twists at an acute angle to look towards the ground behind her. Her left arm goes over her head and may have once held a now-missing disk or other indeterminate object, while her raised right hand may have grasped its lower edge. She is richly adorned with jeweled ornaments and cascading strands of pearls. A long flowing scarf (dupatta) is around her shoulders, and another is knotted above her knees. The sculptor has taken delight in portraying the celestial nymph in a contorted dancing posture emphasizing her suppleness and has displayed considerable technical expertise in utilizing the dark striations of the rock to accentuate the swollen volumes of her breasts and other features. She stands beside a rectangular pillar or pilaster ornamented with a leonine face-of-glory (kirttimukha), a bell hanging from a chain, and a spandrel with a radiant quarter-lotus.

The sculpture was previously attributed stylistically to Ranakpur, the great 15th-century Jain temple complex in southern Rajasthan, but exterior sculptures from that site generally exhibit a more uniform geological matrix and the architectural ornamentations differ.
Selected Bibliography: Pal, Pratapaditya. Indian Sculpture, vol.2. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; University of California Press, 1988.
Pal, Pratapaditya; Dehejia, Vidya; Slusser, Mary Shepherd; Fisher, Robert E.; Brown, Robert L. Arts of Asia 15 (6): 68-125 (November- December 1985).
Newman, Richard. The Stone Sculpture of India: a Study of the Materials Used by Indian Sculptors from ca. 2nd Century B.C. to the 16th Century. Cambridge, MA: Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, Harvard University Art Museums, 1984.
Pal, Pratapaditya; S. Andhare; J. Cort; S. Gorakshakar; P. Granoff; J. Guy; G. Larson; Stephen Markel. The Peaceful Liberators: Jain Art from India. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1994.
El Universo de la India: Obras Maestras del Museo de Arte del Condado de Los Angeles. Santiago: Centro Cultural Palacio La Moneda, 2012.
Aitken, Molly Emma. "Introduction." In A Magic World: New Visions of Indian Painting, edited by Molly Emma Aitken, 10-19. Mumbai: Marg Foundation, 2016.