Padmavati with Parshva / Artist Unknown, India, Maharashtra

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Record Details

Accession Number
1977/2.47
Title
Padmavati with Parshva
Artist Nationality
Indian
Medium and Support
brass
Object Creation Date
1709
Object Creation Place
Asia (continent)
India (nation)
Maharashtra (state)
Creation Place 1
Asia (continent)
Creation Place 2
India (nation)
Creation Place 3
Maharashtra (state)
Style/Group/Movement
Jain bronze altar
Dimensions
16 cm x 7.7 cm x 7.7 cm (6 5/16 in. x 3 1/16 in. x 3 1/16 in.)
Century
18th century
Primary Object Classification
Sculpture
Primary Object Type
figure
Secondary Object Classification
Ritual Objects
Secondary Object Type
portable shrine
Physical Description
Padmavati sits on a raised tiered square base. She sits on a narrow rounded seat with one leg crossed in her lap and the other slightly pendant. She has four arms and the right back one is broken. On the palm of her front right hand which is in the gesture of reassurance. She holds a mango in her front left hand and the base of some vegetative form in the back left hand. Her tight fitting lower garment is decorated with incised lines in stripes and incised lines delineate her necklace and encircle her breasts. She wears large plain earrings [?] and a conical crown. Her head is surmounted by a seven headed snake hood, symbolizing her snake nature and seated atop the hood is a figure of the jina Pashva in a half lotus position and his hands folded in a gesture of meditation. He is turn is toped by a five headed snake hood signifying Padmavati’s consort the nagaraja Dharanendra.
Subject Matter
Another popular goddess in the Jaina tradition is the four-armed snake goddess Padmavati. Both Padmavati and Parshva, the twenty-third thirthankara with whom she is associated, are depicted under the shelter of a spreading cobra’s hood.
Unlike Hindu icons, which rarely have inscriptions with historical information, many of the metal sculptures executed for the Jain faithful are inscribed and dated. One prominent scholar of Jain art attributes this habit to the predominance of scribal and administrative skills in occupations traditionally held by members of Jain community. Forbidden by their beliefs to take up occupations that might involve killing, such as agriculture, animal husbandry, or warfare, most Jains became merchants or bankers. This image of the four-armed snake goddess Padmavati (an attendant of the twenty-third tirthankara), is inscribed with the date VS 1766, or 1709 CE.
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Technical Details

Image Size
861 x 1319
File Size
83 KB
Record
1977/2.47
Link to this Item
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1977-sl-2.47/1977_2.47.jpg

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"Padmavati with Parshva; Artist Unknown, India, Maharashtra." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1977-sl-2.47/1977_2.47.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed March 18, 2024.
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