Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c16.17

c16.17

Basārh (ancient Vaiśālī) was another flourishing centre of Śuṅga clay figurines. A plaque (ht. 5½") shows a figure standing in the midst of lotuses with two long stems held in the hands on the waist. It is remarkable for a pair of wings on the shoulders. The breasts are inconspicuous as those in male figures. The ornaments consist of discular rings in ears, a flat torque, armlets, profuse bangles and wristlets with pearl pendants, a broad girdle and anklets. In terms of iconography it cannot be definitely identified. The abundance of lotuses points towards a kindred Śrī Lakshmī type. The wing-like appendages may have been a borrowed feature connecting it with the winged Cupid type. Two small holes pierced under the armpits point to the figure being hung on a wall. [Fig. 229].