Heavenly beauty

anoniem, c. 950

This female figure has raised her flywhisk to brush away the little monkey tugging at her clinging lower garment. The imprints of fingernails on her cheek and shoulder betray the fact that she has just been with her lover. The temples of Khajuraho are entirely covered with erotic sculptures. This heavenly beauty (apsara), from the Lakshmana temple, was attached to the top of a pillar in the temple hall.

Artwork typefigure, sculpture
Object numberAK-MAK-185
Dimensionsheight 96.0 cm x width 32.0 cm x depth 21.0 cm
Physical characteristicszandsteen

Identification

Title(s)
Heavenly beauty
Object type
Object number
AK-MAK-185
Description
Hemelse Schone; in de boom achter de vrouw twee apen; naast het linkerbeen ook een aap, naast het rechter een klein vrouwenfiguur.
Catalogue reference
- Karel van Kooij, 'Bold and Beautiful', Aziatische Kunst 19/4 (1999), pp. 2-23.
- Vidya Prakash, Khajuraho, Bombay 1967, pl. 78, 26.
- P. Chandar, Lait Kala (1955/56), 1-2.
- ‘De beauty', Oog (2007), nr. 1, p. 94-95, afb.
- Renée Steenbergen, 'De Vereniging van Vrienden der Aziatische Kunst in het interbellum : Deftige verzamelaars, rijke donateurs en Indische fortuinen', Aziatische Kunst 38 (2008), nr. 3, p. 12-13, afb. 10.
- Handbook of the Mr. and Mrs. J.D. Rockefeller 3rd collection, pl. 19.

Creation

Creation
sculptor: anoniem, Khajuraho
Dating
c. 950
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School / Style

Material and technique

Physical description
zandsteen
Material
Dimensions
height 96.0 cm x width 32.0 cm x depth 21.0 cm

This work is about

Subject

Acquisition and rights

Credit line
On loan from the Royal Asian Art Society in The Netherlands (purchase through mediation of Charles-Louis Fábri, 1934)
Copyright
Public domain
Provenance
…; purchased through the mediation of Dr Charles-Louis Fábri, fl. 2135.50, by the Vereniging van Vrienden der Aziatische Kunst, 1934;{Note RMA} from whom on loan to the museum, 1972

Documentation

- Karel van Kooij, 'Bold and Beautiful', Aziatische Kunst 19/4 (1999), pp. 2-23.
- Vidya Prakash, Khajuraho, Bombay 1967, pl. 78, 26.
- P. Chandar, Lait Kala (1955/56), 1-2.
- ‘De beauty', Oog (2007), nr. 1, p. 94-95, afb.
- Renée Steenbergen, 'De Vereniging van Vrienden der Aziatische Kunst in het interbellum : Deftige verzamelaars, rijke donateurs en Indische fortuinen', Aziatische Kunst 38 (2008), nr. 3, p. 12-13, afb. 10.
- Handbook of the Mr. and Mrs. J.D. Rockefeller 3rd collection, pl. 19.

Persistent URL

To refer to this object, please use the following persistent URL:
https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/200106308