id: 153386 accession number: 1986.71 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1986.71 updated: 2020-11-04 21:28:00.648000 Male Fertility Divinity, Possibly Shiva, c. 120-200. Northern India, possibly Mathura, Kushan period (c. 80-320). Terracotta; overall: 17.3 cm (6 13/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund 1986.71 title: Male Fertility Divinity, Possibly Shiva title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 120-200 creation date earliest: 100 creation date latest: 299 current location: creditline: Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund copyright: --- culture: Northern India, possibly Mathura, Kushan period (c. 80-320) technique: terracotta department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art collection: Indian Art - Kushan, Mathura type: Sculpture find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Overall: 17.3 cm (6 13/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Year in Review for 1986 opening date: 1987-02-04T05:00:00 Year in Review for 1986. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 4-March 15, 1987). --- 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 (5/8-7/13/1986): "Kushan Sculpture: Images from Early India"

Cleveland Museum of Art (2/4-3/15/1987): "Year in Review for 1986" --- PROVENANCE --- fun fact: This sculpture was first made from a mold, then subsequently hand modeled. digital description: This figure combines an unusual set of attributes. He has long dreadlocks over his shoulders, like an ascetic, and he holds a water pot, like a Brahmin or naga (serpent deity). Also, he seems to carry a sword and dagger like a warrior and is ithyphallic, indicating his virility and fecundity. He may best be identified as a local divinity worshipped for purposes of increasing fertility, but he could also be recognized as an early form of the Hindu god Shiva. wall description: This figure—a somewhat pudgy, sturdy male wearing a transparent dhoti and a long, bulky scarf—is very much based on stone sculpture models of bodhisattva or attendant figures; the execution is, of course, cruder and simpler. A further difference, in this instance, is that we deal with a Hindu rather than a Buddhist sculpture. The image represents Shiva, as indicated by the ithyphallic form of the deity. The earliest form of Shiva worshipped in Mathura by the Pasupata sect was that of the urdhvareta, or ithyphallic Shiva. The image is missing its head, right arm, and feet. Probably made from a mold, but largely hand-modeled, it dates from roughly the third century AD. Stylistic features and iconographic considerations—the hair falling in strands over the shoulders and the presence of the water flask (kamandalu) that appears in other images speak in favor of a third-century date. The fact that we deal with a Hindu Shiva image, characteristic of a later period, further confirms this assumption. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1986.71/1986.71_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1986.71/1986.71_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1986.71/1986.71_full.tif