- Title
- Finial of a Processional Staff with Serpents
- Date Made
- circa 14th century
- Medium
- Copper alloy
- Dimensions
- 6 7/8 x 6 3/4 x 1 7/8 in. (17.5 x 17.1 x 4.8 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.89.131.7
- Collecting Area
- South and Southeast Asian Art
- Curatorial Notes
This serpentine finial was once affixed to a processional staff. The hollow central shaft is adorned with two dragon-like serpents (nagas) whose undulating scaly bodies with stylized flames emerge from the axis protected by demonic masks known as kala (time, death, or black) heads. The serpents wear lotus bud crowns atop bejeweled tiaras. They have bulging eyes and an upturned pointed snout. Their jaws are wide open with two rows of pointed fangs and long curly tongues. The central shaft is ringed and embellished with floral medallions. Graceful foliate tendrils with flames emanate at the halfway point. The apex of the finial is a stylized flame. See Jan Fontein, The Sculpture of Indonesia (Washington: National Gallery of Art, 1990), pp. 263, 265, no. 93.
A comparable Eastern Javanese staff finial is in the Museum Nasional, Jakarta (843).
