Two Sandstone Pillars India, Uttar Pradesh, Mathura, 1st century BC 39 1/2 in. (100.3 cm.) high 56 in. (142.2 cm.) high Provenance: With Kapoor Galleries, by the 1990s
The present two pillars emerge from a critical period in the history of Indian art, just before iconic images began to appear and proliferate throughout the Buddhist universe. The earliest aniconic Buddhist images—such as the dharma wheel and stupa featured on the present two pillars—emerged during the Ashokan period (c. 269-232 BCE), when Buddhism became the state religion of the vast Mauryan Empire. The art of Mathura, a city encompassed by the Mauryan Empire until circa 180 BCE, became hugely significant during the period of Indo-Greek and, later, Indo-Scythian hegemony that presided thereafter. Mathura remained highly influential in terms of artistic development through the Kushan period during which the first iconic images of the Buddha were created. While the images depicted on these strikingly well-preserved artifacts are overtly Buddhist, their aniconic quality is representative of the danger that historical buddha professed of attachment to icons. As such, the present reliefs can be thought to represent the early, foundational principles of Buddhist philosophy and the Four Noble Truths. The shorter pillar depicts a stupa enclosed by a gateway (torana) lined with honeysuckle and lattice motifs beneath, under which three adorant couples appear in vertically stacked architectural niches. The larger pillar depicts two birds atop a torana, a dharma wheel under which two devotees kneel, a female figure bearing offerings, and a yaksha at its base. The present pillars very closely resemble the reliefs surrounding the Bharhut stupa (located in nearby Madhya Pradesh), which are firmly dated to the lifetime of their patron—second- or first-century BCE Buddhist king, Dhanabhuti (see Figure 1). Their origin of the present two pillars, however, is discernible by the mottled red sandstone so common among Mathuran sculpture and the many close comparisons that can be made to firstcentury sculptures excavated at Mathura. The hallmarks of the early Indian style employed at Bharhut and Mathura are the human figures: rendered with a variety of neatly rounded hairstyles, nearly all including a chignon, and specific ornamentation including heavy earrings, a flat ribbon-like necklace for the male figures and stacked bangles for the female figures. The female figures are particularly distinct, with exaggerated proportions including extremely wide set hips to convey fertility. See Figures 2 and 3 to compare the male and female forms respectively.
ComparableWorks
(Fig.1) One face of a fence-rail from Bharhut: Worship at a Stupa India, Madhya Pradesh state, Shunga dynasty, early 2nd century BCE Sandstone 18 11/16 x 20 7/16 x 3 1/8 in. (47.5 x 51.9 x 8 cm) Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment Freer Gallery of Art F1932.26
(Fig.2) Yaksha holding a mudgar mace and a child Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, India, 100 BCE Government Museum of Mathura [formerly The Curzon Museum of Archaeology]
(Fig.3) Mother goddess with attendant Uttar Pradesh, India, 2nd century BC - 1st century BC Terracotta 6 1/2 x 3 x 1 1/8 in. (16.7 x 7.5 x 3 cm) Bequeathed by Alex Biancardi Victoria & Albert Museum IS.118-1999
Tall Pillar Details
Short Pillar Details
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