Candakinnara jātaka

Unknown (Gandharan)

Item type:

sculpture

Date of creation:

2nd-3rd century

Height:

17.6 cm  (6 15/16 in.)

Width:

56.0 cm  (22 1/16 in.)

Depth:

4.1 cm  (1 5/8 in.)

Technique / Medium:

carved schist

Place of creation:

Gandhara (former nation/state/empire)

School:

Kushan

Description

Stair-riser length showing perhaps the Candakinnara jātaka, to be read from left to right. A mounted warrior, perhaps the king of Benares, with sword, spear and bow or shield worn at the back and wearing a girdled knee-length tunic over trousers, faces a flowering tree with vestiges of another tree in the top corner behind him. The stationary horse is stocky, wears a phalera or disc on the crupper, a crest between the ears and has reins. Beyond the flowering tree a female dancer, seen from the back, wearing a sleeved tunic and a paridhāna round it with a scarf tucked into the girdle, bracelets, anklets and earrings, looks over her left shoulder at a turbaned male harpist seated, although no seat is visible, and turned towards her, wearing uttarīya, paridhāna, earrings, collar and bracelets. Beside him another, frontal female, perhaps similarly dressed and with a fall of drapery from her middle and with the same ornaments, dances with raised leg and arm beside another seated male harpist.
The damaged horizontal framing elements are those of British Museum item 1880.54.

Iconclass

48CC75
making music; musician with instrument - CC - out of doors
43C9
dancing

Instruments [MIMO Code] (notes)

Harp [3285]

RIdIM images

Image URLs

image link 1

RIdIM record id

5330