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Lot Essay
Jainism is propagated through the stories of twenty-four tirthankaras, figures who have conquered samsara (the cycle of death and rebirth) and provide others a bridge to follow them to moksha (liberation). Tirthankaras are often depicted as an ideal yogi in a seated posture, as in the present example, or kayotsarga, the standing “body-abandonment” pose. They also often have a srivatsa mark on their chest, perhaps to distinguish them from images of Buddha, which share many similar iconographical elements.
The present work is closely related to a similarly-sized example in the collection of Dr. David R. Nalin, illustrated by P. Pal in The Peaceful Liberators: Jain Art from India, Los Angeles, 1994, p. 140, cat. no. 27. The Nalin example, with an inscription giving a date of samvat 1165 (corresponding to 1108 C.E.), was dedicated only thirty-seven years after the present work; both examples share many stylistic details, including the cushion with similar, lozenge-shaped scrollwork, the foliate lozenge-shaped srivatsa mark on the chest, and the proportions of the face, with lidded, almond-shaped eyes, pendulous earlobes, and tight snailshell curls of hair over the cranial protuberance. The Nalin example and the present work also share the same representation of the diaphanously-rendered dhoti, with an incision along the waist indicating the hem and a small grouping of folds extending from below the ankles. The two works were almost certainly made by the same workshop, and based on the small difference in dating of the two works, possibly by the same hand.
In many representations of Jain figures, an identifying symbol or iconographical mark is included to distinguish the identity of the individual jina; Rishbhanatha is thus identified by the long hair or by a representation of a bull; Parshavanatha by the hoods of the snake over his head; Neminatha by an image of conch shell. The small elephant represented at the center of the cushion suggests the present figure is Ajitanatha, the second tirthankara.
The present work is closely related to a similarly-sized example in the collection of Dr. David R. Nalin, illustrated by P. Pal in The Peaceful Liberators: Jain Art from India, Los Angeles, 1994, p. 140, cat. no. 27. The Nalin example, with an inscription giving a date of samvat 1165 (corresponding to 1108 C.E.), was dedicated only thirty-seven years after the present work; both examples share many stylistic details, including the cushion with similar, lozenge-shaped scrollwork, the foliate lozenge-shaped srivatsa mark on the chest, and the proportions of the face, with lidded, almond-shaped eyes, pendulous earlobes, and tight snailshell curls of hair over the cranial protuberance. The Nalin example and the present work also share the same representation of the diaphanously-rendered dhoti, with an incision along the waist indicating the hem and a small grouping of folds extending from below the ankles. The two works were almost certainly made by the same workshop, and based on the small difference in dating of the two works, possibly by the same hand.
In many representations of Jain figures, an identifying symbol or iconographical mark is included to distinguish the identity of the individual jina; Rishbhanatha is thus identified by the long hair or by a representation of a bull; Parshavanatha by the hoods of the snake over his head; Neminatha by an image of conch shell. The small elephant represented at the center of the cushion suggests the present figure is Ajitanatha, the second tirthankara.