This molded earthenware relief plaque portrays a celestial nymph (apsaras) in a dancing pose with her hands joined above her head with the palms facing upwards in the gesture of Dawn (ushas mudra; see also AC1994.15.1). The nymph is richly adorned. She wears a headdress with floral medallions, ear ornaments, fringe necklace with "golden" vertical elements, ornate hip belt (katibandha) with pearl swags, and large floral bracelets and anklets. She stands frontally with her right knee bent and the foot splayed. Beside her a smaller female attendant offers her a metallic mirror with a polished reflective front and concentric bands of ornamentation on the mirror back (see also M.84.32.2, M.87.211, and AC1994.230.1). Earthenware plaques displaying the same ‘dancer with mirror’ iconography have been discovered at Kaushambi in Uttar Pradesh and Haroa near Chandraketugarh in West Bengal. See respectively S. C. Kala, Terracottas in the Allahabad Museum (New Delhi: Abhinav Publications, 1980), p. 45, fig. 115; and S. S. Biswas, Terracotta Art of Bengal (New Delhi: Agam Kala Prakasan, 1981), pl. XXXd.
The mounting hole drilled through the top of the plaque suggests that it was likely hung on the wall of a domestic shrine.
See also M.83.221.2 and M.90.196.1.
