id: 122181
accession number: 1942.498
share license status: CC0
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1942.498
updated: 2023-03-07 15:13:53.397000
Head of Vishnu, AD 400s. Northern India, Mathura, Gupta period. Sandstone; overall: 28 cm (11 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Edward L. Whittemore Fund 1942.498
title: Head of Vishnu
title in original language:
series:
series in original language:
creation date: AD 400s
creation date earliest: 400
creation date latest: 499
current location: 243 Indian and Southeast Asian
creditline: Edward L. Whittemore Fund
copyright:
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culture: Northern India, Mathura, Gupta period
technique: sandstone
department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
collection: Indian Art
type: Sculpture
find spot:
catalogue raisonne:
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CREATORS
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measurements: Overall: 28 cm (11 in.)
state of the work:
edition of the work:
support materials:
inscriptions:
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: India's Art
opening date: 1949-12-02T05:00:00
India's Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 2, 1949-January 22, 1950).
title: 35th Anniversary Exhibition
opening date: 1951-06-20T04:00:00
35th Anniversary Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 20-September 30, 1951).
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
* Exposition de sculptures et bronzes anciens de l'Inde. C.T. Loo Inc., Paris, France (June 14–July 31, 1935).
* The Sculpture of Greater India. C.T. Loo & Co., New York, NY (1942).
* Buddhist Art. Detroit Institute of Arts, Twenty-Fourth Loan Exhibition, October, 1942. Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (October 1942).
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PROVENANCE
Ananda K. Coomaraswamy [1877–1947]
date:
footnotes:
citations:
(C.T. Loo [1880–1957], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
date: ?–1942
footnotes:
citations:
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
date: 1942–
footnotes:
citations:
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fun fact:
digital description:
This head of Vishnu is identifiable by the squared crown typical for this deity. Its central medallion features a lion head framed by pearls. Additional strings of pearls issue from the lion’s mouth and are caught by two rampant animals (hippogriffs) that frame the medallion on both sides. Just below the lion head are two heads of makaras (aquatic monsters) with open mouths. The side of the crown has two round, plain medallions corresponding with the central one. In addition, there is a multitude of floral decoration which gives the crown a character of an intricate jewel.
wall description:
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RELATED WORKS
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CITATIONS
Coomaraswamy, Ananda K. History of Indian and Indonesian Art. New York: E Weyhe, 1927.
page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: pl. XXVIII, fig. 99
url:
Exposition de sculptures et bronzes anciens de l'Inde, 14 juin au 31 juillet 1935. Paris: C.T. Loo, 1935.
page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: pl. 11, no. 5
url:
Pope, John. An Exhibition of the Sculpture of Greater India, A Fully Illustrated Catalogue. New York: C.T. Loo & Co, 1942.
page number: Mentioned: cat. no. 27, p. 33; Reproduced: cat. no. 27, p. 54
url:
Lee, Sherman E. Buddhist Art. Detroit Institute of Arts, Twenty-Fourth Loan Exhibition, October, 1942. Detroit: Detroit Institute of Arts, 1942.
page number: Mentioned: cat. no. 14, p. 22–23; Reproduced: cat. no. 14, p. 44
url:
Hollis, Howard. “A Gupta Head.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 30, no. 3, 1943, pp. 26–28.
page number: Mentioned: pp. 26–28; Reproduced: [unpaginated]
url: www.jstor.org/stable/25141046
The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 749
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1958/page/n135
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.
page number: Reproduced: p. 231
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1966/page/n255
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.
page number: Reproduced: p. 231
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1969/page/n255
Czuma, Stanislaw. “Mathura Sculpture in the Cleveland Museum Collection.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 64, no. 3, 1977, pp. 83–114.
page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 106, fig. 35
url: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25152680
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.
page number: Reproduced: p. 292
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n312
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IMAGES
web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1942.498/1942.498_web.jpg
print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1942.498/1942.498_print.jpg
full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1942.498/1942.498_full.tif