Collection Online as of November 30, 2023

Double-Faced Crossbar from a Railing

c. 150 BC

Part of a set. See all set records

India, Madhya Pradesh, Bharhut, Shunga period

Plum-colored sandstone

Overall: 55.9 x 66 cm (22 x 26 in.)

The Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 1982.44

Location

242A Ancient India

Description

This lens-shaped section of a crossbar is from one of the the earliest known Buddhist monuments in India to be embellished with stone relief carvings. It is from a circular fence that surrounded a stupa and demarcated the sacred space from the outside world.

Inscriptions

Inscription

Inscribed on recto: "Mitasa suchi danam"

Inscription Translation

This crossbar is the gift of Mitra.

Provenance

?-1982

The Pan-Asian Collection, New York, NY

?–1982

(Robert H. Ellsworth [1929–2014], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)

1982–

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

Pal, Pratapaditya. The Sensuous Immortals: A Selection of Sculptures from the Pan-Asian Collection. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1977. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 1

Lee, Sherman E. "Year in Review for 1982." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 70, no. 1 (1983): 3-55. Mentioned: no. 99, pp. 26 and 53; Reproduced: no. 99, p. 27 www.jstor.org

Clarke, Victoria. Flower: Exploring the World in Bloom. London; New York : Phaidon Press Limited, 2020. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 274

“Exhibitions through November 2022.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine vol. 62, no. 3 (September 2022): 13. Reproduced: P. 13.

Exhibition history

The Sensuous Immortals. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (October 25, 1977–January 15, 1978); Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA (March 9–April 1978); Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO (May 26–July 30, 1978); Nelson Atkins Gallery, Kansas City, MO (September 15–October 29, 1978).

The Year in Review for 1982. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 5-February 6, 1983).