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D'ana Pompei Ivory
D'ana Pompei Ivory
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166
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is to be dated by its style earlier than works from the school of Gandhara, the assertion is
perfectly legitimate. If, instead, what is meant is that the style and iconography of the work
do not show any Classicalinfluence, the statement must not be taken too literally.
This paper will discuss the iconography and style of the statuette, and through this discus-
sion will attempt to show that:
i) The iconography is a mixture of Indian and Classical themes.
2) The statuette is more advanced in style than the traditional works of the Sufiga-Andhra
167
figure might have held a lotus flower, because the stem is still visible in her right hand.
5 A. K. Coomaraswamy, "Early
Indian Iconography, II, Sri Laksmi", Eastern Art, i, 1928, pp. 175-189.
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169
7 A dwarfish human figure, similar in proportions to the ganza appears occasionally even earlier than the
Gupta period. It is seen, for instance, in some reliefs of style I at Amaravati, dated by Sivaramamurti ca.
200-
I oo B.C. (C. Sivaramamurti,Amarivati Sculptures in the Madras GovernmentMuseum..., Madras,1942).
This figure, however, has a different character from the on account of its caricaturesque appearance.
For two of later see: ga.za
s examples representations Coomaraswamy, Yaksas, II, Washington, 1931, pl. 21, 2
(figures at the sides of the pillars in the Ramesvara Temple at Elura); pl. 19, 3 (Yamuna Devi, at Paharpur)
An example of Jina with two side figures is given by R. D. Banerji, "New Brahmi Inscriptions of the
170
Scythian period", Epigraphia Indica, x, Calcutta, 1909-Io, p. og9 and pl. I. The statue is dated in the
year 9 of an unspecified era, and the characters are those of Northern Indian type current during the
Kushan period. For these reasons Banerji dates the sculpture in the Kaniska era. Two things, however,
are to be kept in mind. The author says that the form of the letter ma is unusual for the Kushan period,
but is common in the Guptan period; and the style of the figure, with its narrow hips and waist, long limbs
and broad shoulders, suggests the Guptan period rather than the early Kushan.
9 S. Reinach, Repertoirede la statuairegrecque et romaine, I, pp. 3 336, 35 I ; II, pp. 376-78; III, pp. II 5, etc.
10 See the terracotta figurines from Asia Minor and from Myrina in A. Kister, Diegriechischen Terrakotten,
Berlin, 1926, pls. 53, 81, 88, etc.
11 Reinach, op. cit., I, p. 341; II, pp. 334, 378, etc.
12
Reproduced in H. Peirce and R. Tyler, L'Art byzantin, ii, Paris, 1934, pl. 35, b. This ivory in the Museum
of Cluny is in general thought to represent Ariadne.
13 A gold plaque from Patna, datable in the Maurya period, shows Siva with his consort Parvati at his side
Journal of the Indian Society of Oriental Art, June 1934, pl. I). This composition is interesting because of
the relationship in size and position of the two figures, a relationship very similar to that of the two servants
to the central figure of the ivory from Pompeii.
17'
172
1928-29; 1929-30 (this publication to be referred to hereafter as A. S. I.). The finds from Sirkap fall into
two categories for their iconography: the statuettes and the stone dishes. The stone dishes were destined
to contain cosmetics. Generally the dishes were divided into sections, one bearing reliefs, of various
subjects, mostly erotic scenes, and the rest being hollowed out to serve as container. The stone and metal
figurines are in general representations of Laksmi-Aphrodite, of the Hellenistic winged Aphrodite, or of
Eros and Psyche. Except for a relief found in the surface stratum of the town, of dubious interpretation,
all the finds from Sirkap seem to be of non-Buddhist subjects.
17 Bachhofer, Early Indian Sculpture, i, p. 20 and n. I, says that an inscription on the Eastern Gateway at
Bharhut mentions that it was erected by Dhanabuti under the Sufiga dynasty (185-72 B. C.). See also
Cunningham, The Stiipa of Barhit, London, 1879, p. 142.
as Bachhofer, ibid, and n. 5. The inscriptions were carved by request of the Queens Kuramgi and Nagadeva,
wives of the Kings Indramitra and Brahmamitra. Coins of these two Kings cannot be dated earlier than
the first century B. C. on account of the paleography of their inscriptions (A. K. Coomaraswamy, La sculp-
ture de Bodh Gaya, Ars Asiatica XVIII, Paris, 1935, pp. Io-I I, dates the railing between 125 and 75 B. C.,
and some of the terminal railing-pillars in the first century B. C.).
19
Bachhofer, of. cit., i, p. 32. An inscription on the Southern Gate says that Anamda, overseer of the
artisans of the King Sri Satakarni, dedicated the sculptures. J. Marshall, "Excavations at Sanchi," A. S. I.,
1913-14, PP.4 ff., and A Guide to Sanchi, pp. 3 ff.,identifies Sri Satakarniwith the Andhra king of that name,
whose reign is datable ca. 20 or 15 B. C., and he proposes to date the sculptures in the latter half of the
first century B. C., a dating which seems to be universally accepted. 20
Bachhofer, op.cit., pl. 20.
173
174
24 J.Burgess, The Buddkist Topes of Amaravati and Taggayyapeta,London, 1887, (this publication to be
referred to hereafter as Amaravati) pl. XXXVIII, I (second scene at the left); pl. XXXIV,2 (first panel to
the left of the three besides the columns, central figure); pl. L, I (second figure to the right). See also:
Bachhofer, op. cit., pl. 13 I (lower relief, second figure to the right of the second panel at the right); pl. 122
figs. 3 and 4 (women to the left). To these examples might be added an undated example in the Mathura
style, reproduced by A. K. Coomaraswamy, Catalogue of the Indian Collections in the Museum of Fine
Arts, Boston, Part. II, Sculpture, Boston, 1923, pl. VI, N. 21.1715 and p. 49. Coomaraswamy indicates the
provenance of the Boston example, and suggests a date: "Aligarh district. First century A. D. or earlier".
In my opinion this example is not earlier than the Pompeii statuette, and is closely related to the "Holi
relief" (or Lon~sobhik plaque) reproduced by Bachhofer, op. cit., pl. 91, and dated by him "close of the
I century A. D." The figure in the Boston Museum is similar to the figure on the right of the "Holi relief"
for its style, for the type of earrings, and for the band of thin bracelets reaching almost the elbow.
25 J. Ph. Vogel, La Sculpture de Mathura, Ars Asiatica, XV, Paris
1930, pl. XII, to the right (this publicat-
ion to be referred to hereafter as Mathurii).
26
Ibid. pl. XXIV b.
27
Ibid., pl. XXVIIIa.
28 Bachhofer, op. cit., ii, pl. 74.
175
29 K. de B. Codrington and W. Rothenstein, Ancient India, London, 1926, pl. 27 A (figure to the right).
30 J. Hackin, Reckerches arche'ologiquesahBegram, ii, Paris, 1939, pl. XXXVII.
31 Ibid., passim.
32 This dating reached by stylistic reasons does not conflict with the chronology of the buildings in which
the ivories were found. Hackin, op. cit., did not indicate the exact stratification, but Ghirshman (R. Ghirshman,
Begram, Recherches archkologiqueset Iistoriques sur les KoucZans,Le Caire, 1946) proposed to date the
Eastern section of the city excavated by Hackin in the period of the first or second Kushan dynasty, that
is, from the first century A. D. to the third century A. D.
176
torana relief from Kankali Tila (Mathura) reproduced in Vogel, Mathurd, pl. XII.
177
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.....
178
87 Marshall, A. S. Z, 1929-30, pl.XVI, I; XIV, 3, 6; XV, 2, 6, etc. The motif occurs sporadically at Bodh
Gaya: Bachhofer, op. cit., pls. 39, 42.
3s A terracotta plaque in the Indian Institute at Oxford, dated between the third and the first century B. C.
(Annual Bibliography of Indian ArchceologyLeyden, 1937, pl. V) has quite a collection of hairpins, some
of them being of a shape similar to the object in the Pompeian ivory, and all of considerable size, but none
reaches the dimensions of the one in Pompeii. A terracotta plaque in the Mathura Museum (Ibid., 1934,
pl. IV e, figure to the left) has something which looks very much like the object sticking out of the head
of the statuette, but, again, it is not easy to decide whether it is a hairpin or the end of the hair tied in a
knot. In other examples the motif seems definitely to be part of the headdress (see two examples from
Amaravati in Bachhofer, op. cit., pl. 129, relief to the right; and Burgess, Amaravati, pl. XXVII, 5; and
one from Mathura in Vogel, Matkurd, pl. VII b).
39 See an example from Bharhut in Bachhofer, op. cit., pl. 21 and one from Mathura, ibid., pl.
75.
179
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