Ambika / Artist Unknown, India, Gujarat

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Record Details

Accession Number
1975/2.114
Title
Ambika
Artist Nationality
Indian
Medium and Support
brass with silver inlay
Object Creation Date
17th century
Object Creation Place
Asia (continent)
India (nation)
Gujarat (state)
Creation Place 1
Asia (continent)
Creation Place 2
India (nation)
Creation Place 3
Gujarat (state)
Style/Group/Movement
Jain bronze altar
Dimensions
18.4 cm x 8.3 cm x 7 cm (7 1/4 in. x 3 1/4 in. x 2 3/4 in.)
Century
17th century
Primary Object Classification
Sculpture
Primary Object Type
figure
Secondary Object Classification
Ritual Objects
Secondary Object Type
portable shrine
Physical Description
Ambika sits above her stylized lion mount with a long body and with its tail curled to add support to the seated figure above. She sits with one leg pendant. She has four arms, the back two hold stylized mango clusters and her front right hand holds a large mango. Her left-hand cups a child seated on her left knee. Another child stands on the base to her right. The backing takes on a throne-like form, but she appears to float in front of it, the square-ish base is pierced and the arch of the back is surmounted by an auspicious pot form with leaves creating a volute shape to either side. The sculpture is solid brass, but the eyes and an ornament in her headdress are inlayed with silver.
Subject Matter
Although the Jaina scriptures associate a particular god and goddess with each of the twenty-four jinas, in practice only a few of these deities are commonly depicted. Ambika, while properly associated with Nemi, the twenty-second jina, is the most popular of the goddesses, and in the Jaina context always appears with one or more children. This does reflect the concept of a universal mother goddess, which is found in many of the religions that developed in India and elsewhere.
The artist here uses little modeling for the figure, emphasizing instead her silhouette, with an almost two-dimensional effect. It is interesting to compare this very linear portrayal of a goddess with a similar approach found in paintings from the Kalpasutra, displayed nearby.
Rights
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Technical Details

Image Size
775 x 1175
File Size
88 KB
Record
1975/2.114
Link to this Item
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1975-sl-2.114/1975_2.114.jpg

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https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:1975-SL-2.114:1975_2.114.JPG

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"Ambika; Artist Unknown, India, Gujarat." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1975-sl-2.114/1975_2.114.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed March 29, 2024.
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