- Title
- Three Panels with Architectural Forms
- Date Made
- 17th century
- Medium
- Ivory
- Dimensions
- a: 7 5/8 x 1/8 in. (19.37 x .318 cm); b: 8 1/8 x 3/8 in. (20.64 x .95 cm); c: 11 1/4 x 3/8 in. (28.58 x .95 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.86.125a-c
- Collecting Area
- South and Southeast Asian Art
- Curatorial Notes
Perhaps originally used to adorn a processional temple model, these three fragmentary ivory panels are delineated with Indian architectural forms consisting of six temple or gateway superstructures alternating with four horseshoe arches. The two-tiered superstructures are crowned by an oblong barrel-vault roof with multiple finials. Unlike most extant temples, there are no human or mythological figures filling the flat recesses of the pavilion walls above the curved eave molding or in the large horseshoe arch (Sanskrit: nasi, or Tamil: kudu) centered on the roof’s lateral facade.
The horseshoe arch was a common architectural element of both northern and southern Indian temples. The distinctive circular form was derived from the end view of a barrel vault roof, often encasing a window. Additional historical names include gavaksha (cow’s eye), chandrashala (moon window), and chaitya arch (named from the early Indian chaitya halls or temples particularly common to Buddhist architecture). The four individual horseshoe arches are each surmounted by a face-of-glory (kirttimukha). Pearls issue of the mythological creature’s mouth to form the inner border framing the central motif of a demonic head. The demon has bulging eyes and fangs. He holds his hands in front of him in a grasping gesture. The demonic iconography is virtually identical to that of Rahu, the Demon of Eclipses, who is a member of the Nava Graha (Nine Planetary Deities). See M.83.221.1.