Indian Art:
Three-Dimensional Works

In 1992, William and Edith Cleary’s gift of 664 Indian and Persian miniatures increased the number of objects in the Crocker’s Asian collections by one-third. Complementing this fine core collection, five recent acquisitions and gifts dating from the second to eighth centuries C.E. (common era) inaugurate a new direction. These exciting additions elucidate Buddhist principles and developing Hindu iconography and provide sculptural parallels to the Crocker’s painted representations of the gods.

The fine details of a recently gifted seventh-century bronze figure, seated in full lotus with his hands held in dhyana mudra (meditation gesture) embody all the characteristics of a Buddha. The monk’s robe and the curls of his shorn hair signify his renunciation, while his long earlobes refer to his former princely status. He is seated on a lotus throne, with its seed pod indicated by striations. This work comes from the Swat Valley in present-day Pakistan, a region influenced by Greek and Roman art.

A large, three-sided stone relief depicts Shiva’s son Skanda, the god of war, being lustrated by two figures. This story is told in a number of ancient sources, but the description in the Skanda Purana seems to relate to this version, for the carving on the reverse portrays Parvati, who is described as giving “two dustless cloths” to Skanda. The end panel includes the river Yamuna (personified by a female standing on a tortoise). This work offers insight into the role of sculpture in temple architecture (it would have formed part of a railing around a temple), as well as being a three-dimensional counterpart to paintings of Shiva and his family.