Female Worshipper in Front of a Column Support

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This small votive sculpture was most likely designed as the support for a Buddhist emblem, probably a chakra (spoked wheel), here symbolizing the unfolding of Buddhist law. The only other similar object in the literature is a nonfigural chakra with base found at Brahmapuri and now lost. It is known today only through drawings. Our sculpture is in the form of a standing female adorant leaning against a pillar, her hands raised to her breast in anjalimudra, the gesture of adoration. The figure is nude except for elaborate jewelry and a long diaphanous dhoti, which falls in pleats between her legs and ends, uncharacteristically, above her ankles. The pillar is ringed with raised bands at its top and behind the figure's head and hips, and is set on a low double plinth.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.

Metropolitan Museum of Art