Vessel

Place of OriginIndia, West Bengal, possibly Chandraketugarh

Date2nd-1st century BCE

Dimensions25 3/16 × 5 × 5 in. (64 × 12.7 × 12.7 cm)

Mediumearthenware

ClassificationSculpture

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

2008.139

Not on View

DescriptionA terracotta vessel, the body slightly bulbous in shape, the neck tall and slender, with an upper flared rim and the lower area forming three diminishing ridged registers tapering to a small turned base.

Label TextThe lower register of this ancient vase—below the bold design of lotus flowers—depicts rows upon rows of yakshas and yakshis, male and female nature divinities representing the bounty of the earth. They all wear elaborate jewelry, and many are carrying musical instruments, flowers, sheaves of grain, and laden baskets—all of which are blessings of the goddess of wealth and fortune, Sri or Lakshmi. The vessel may have been “planted” in the ground during harvest festivals and rituals, as a purna kalasha, or “vase of plenty.” Such vases were used as an offering to ensure the fertility of the earth.Published ReferencesToledo Museum of Art, Toledo Museum of Art Masterworks, Toledo, 2009, p. 27, repr. (col.).Comparative ReferencesSee also Body, Speech and Mind, Asian Religious Images, Marcel Nies Oriental Art, Antwerp, 2006. See also Life and Art of Chandraketugarh, State Archaeological Museum, Behala, Kolkata, 2001.