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Balustrade Ornament

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Balustrade Ornament

Place of OriginCambodia
DateClassic Khmer Period (802 -1431), 1100-1200
Dimensions51 1/2 × 30 1/2 × 43 1/2 in. (130.8 × 77.5 × 110.5 cm)
MediumSandstone
ClassificationSculpture
Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number
1929.23
On View
Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 35
DescriptionThis sandstone terminal capped a temple balustrade, depicting Garuda, a bird-headed figure, seated atop a coiled, many-headed Naga.
Label TextElaborate sculptures such as this are familiar sights at most Khmer temples, where they function as the end of balustrades, or railings (see illustration). This image of the bird Garuda, the animal associated with the Hindu god Vishnu, sits astride Naga, a serpent deity who dwells in water. “Garuda” means “devourer” and he was once identified with the all-consuming fire of the sun. He is also the leader of a mythic feathered race who ruled the sky and fought against the nagas, who inhabited the earth.
Jali (Screen)
early 17th century
Relief with Horus as Falcon
Late Period, Dynasty 21, 1085-332 BCE or Ptolemaic Dynasty, 305-30 BCE
Oval
Takashi Murakami
2000
Torso of a Female Deity
Classic Khmer Period (802-1300), 1080- 1125
Torso of a Bodhisattva
Gupta Period (320-647), about 600
Stupa railing fragment
Shunga Dynasty (185-75 BCE)
Narasimha
about 1200

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