INDIA, MADHYA PRADESH OR RAJASTHAN, GUPTA PERIOD, 6TH/7TH CENTURY

Details

A buff sandstone figure of a Mother Goddess
India, Madhya Pradesh or Rajasthan, Gupta Period, 6th/7th century
Well carved with voluptuous forms seated on a throne, dressed in a long dhoti secured at the waist with a belt, adorned with jewelry on her arms, ears, and torso, the face with benevolent expression and the hair pulled into a high chignon and secured with a tiara, embracing a child in her lap while feeding another child a mango, with three children further to her right and an apsara flying above
28¾ in. (73 cm.) high

Provenance

Acquired between 1973-1975

Exhibited

Biennale de Monaco, 1981

Lot Essay

This goddess, with her ample bosom, infants and flying apsara, may be identified as Hariti, the Buddhist goddess of fertility, or as the Jain goddess Ambika. The mango tree on the left symbolizes the heavenly nourishment she provides, further reinforced by the mango she feeds the child at her feet. The five infants most likely represent her five hundred children.
Compare with the figure of Ambika from the Pan-Asian Collection, see P. Pal, Sensuous Immortals, 1977, cat. no. 20, p. 45; and of another mother goddess, dated c. 600, in P. Pal, Asian Art at the Norton Simon Museum, vol. 1: Art from the Indian Subcontinent, 2003, cat. no. 71, p. 109.

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