id: 141933 accession number: 1965.472 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1965.472 updated: 2019-11-18 11:11:48.718000 Attendant Bearing a Fly Whisk (Chauri), c. 100-150. Northern India, Uttar Pradesh, Mathura, Kushan period (c. 80-320). Red sandstone; overall: 55.8 cm (21 15/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund 1965.472 title: Attendant Bearing a Fly Whisk (Chauri) title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 100-150 creation date earliest: 100 creation date latest: 150 current location: 242A Ancient India creditline: Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund copyright: --- culture: Northern India, Uttar Pradesh, Mathura, Kushan period (c. 80-320) technique: red sandstone department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art collection: Indian Art - Kushan, Mathura type: Sculpture find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Overall: 55.8 cm (21 15/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Golden Anniversary of Acquisitions opening date: 1966-09-10T04:00:00 Golden Anniversary of Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (September 10-October 16, 1966). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * Cleveland Museum of Art (11/13/1985-1/15/1986), Asia Society Galleries, NYC (2/13-4/6/1986), and Seattle Art Museum (5/13-7/13/1986): "Kushan Sculpture: Images from Early India" --- PROVENANCE --- fun fact: digital description: This figure would have been one of two flanking a king, the Buddha, or other royal or holy figure. The relaxed stance indicates that he is an attendant, rather than a central icon. Early depictions of the Buddha in India frequently have images of chauri-bearers on either side. They are identifiable as nature divinities called yakshas during this period, but in later periods the Buddha's attendants can be recognized as specific bodhisattvas, who are beings on the path to enlightenment. wall description: This graceful figure of a chauri-bearer (a whisk-bearing attendant) represents a late first- or early second-century variant of the Mathura style and derives from prototypes such as the yaksa from Parkham in the Mathura Museum. Kusana sculpture, while retaining the heavy sculptural volume and monumentality of the Maurya-Sunga style, has lost its rigidity here. The weight of the figure rests on the right leg, giving it a slight contrapposto stance and creating an easy, relaxed appearance. The geometrized forms predominant in pre-Kusana sculpture are eschewed now for the sake of greater realism. Sculpted in the round, the image has a carefully defined back. The modeling of the figure displays a great deal of sensitivity in the fleshy, rather plump treatment of the body, which successfully contrasts with the crispness of the ornaments and the bulk of the garments. The attire is usual for this type of male attendant figure. It consists of a transparent dhoti supported by a belt, tied on the right hip, that is made of several strings bound together in a crisscross fashion and terminating in jewels amid tassels. The long scarf (uttariya) is tucked under the belt in the back; originally, it extended in a sweeping curve to the front, and it was looped over the left wrist, while the other end of it went around the left forearm, now missing, and descended along the back. The jewels consist of a series of bracelets, a short, round necklace, and a long necklace of strands of beads bound by metal clasps and fastened at the back. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS 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. 229 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1966/page/n253 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. 229 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1969/page/n253 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. 288 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n308 The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. page number: Reproduced: p. 15 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1991/page/n30 --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1965.472/1965.472_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1965.472/1965.472_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1965.472/1965.472_full.tif