The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 27, 2023

Head of Vishnu

AD 400s

Northern India, Mathura, Gupta period

Sandstone

Overall: 28 cm (11 in.)

Edward L. Whittemore Fund 1942.498

Location

243 Indian and Southeast Asian

Description

This head of Vishnu is identifiable by the squared crown typical for this deity. Its central medallion features a lion head framed by pearls. Additional strings of pearls issue from the lion’s mouth and are caught by two rampant animals (hippogriffs) that frame the medallion on both sides. Just below the lion head are two heads of makaras (aquatic monsters) with open mouths. The side of the crown has two round, plain medallions corresponding with the central one. In addition, there is a multitude of floral decoration which gives the crown a character of an intricate jewel.

Provenance
Ananda K. Coomaraswamy [1877–1947]
?–1942
(C.T. Loo [1880–1957], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
1942–
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Coomaraswamy, Ananda K. History of Indian and Indonesian Art. New York: E Weyhe, 1927. Mentioned and Reproduced: pl. XXVIII, fig. 99
Exposition de sculptures et bronzes anciens de l'Inde, 14 juin au 31 juillet 1935. Paris: C.T. Loo, 1935. Mentioned and Reproduced: pl. 11, no. 5
Pope, John. An Exhibition of the Sculpture of Greater India, A Fully Illustrated Catalogue. New York: C.T. Loo & Co, 1942. Mentioned: cat. no. 27, p. 33; Reproduced: cat. no. 27, p. 54
Lee, Sherman E. Buddhist Art. Detroit Institute of Arts, Twenty-Fourth Loan Exhibition, October, 1942. Detroit: Detroit Institute of Arts, 1942. Mentioned: cat. no. 14, p. 22–23; Reproduced: cat. no. 14, p. 44
Hollis, Howard. “A Gupta Head.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 30, no. 3, 1943, pp. 26–28. Mentioned: pp. 26–28; Reproduced: [unpaginated] www.jstor.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 749 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 231 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 231 archive.org
Czuma, Stanislaw. “Mathura Sculpture in the Cleveland Museum Collection.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 64, no. 3, 1977, pp. 83–114. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 106, fig. 35 www.jstor.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 292 archive.org
Exhibition history

Exposition de sculptures et bronzes anciens de l'Inde. C.T. Loo Inc., Paris, France (June 14–July 31, 1935).

The Sculpture of Greater India. C.T. Loo & Co., New York, NY (1942).

Buddhist Art. Detroit Institute of Arts, Twenty-Fourth Loan Exhibition, October, 1942. Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (October 1942).

India's Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 2, 1949-January 22, 1950).

35th Anniversary Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 20-September 30, 1951).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1942.498