Untitled

Unknown

2nd century BCE · Copper alloy · Asian Art

This miniature figure is among the earliest known representations in metal of a goddess with weapons radiating from her hair. The style suggests she was made in the Ganges basin region of northern India—probably at the ancient Magadha capital of Pataliputra (Patna)—and attests to this region being instrumental in the development of this iconography. About the early fifth century, the fully elaborated form of the goddess Durga appears, first in a rock-cut depiction at Udayagiri, displaying the same weapons. While the precise identity of our figure is unknown, she is clearly part of an emerging protector goddess tradition.

Artist

Unknown

Date

2nd century BCE

Medium

Copper alloy

Culture

North India (possibly Kausambi, Uttar Pradesh)

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Samuel Eilenberg Collection, Gift of Samuel Eilenberg, in honor of Steven Kossak, 1987