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Dancing Bracket Figure

Primary TitleDancing Celestial Female (Apsaras) Under a Mango Tree
CultureIndian
Datelate 11th century
MediumBuff sandstone
DimensionsOverall: 24 1/2 inches (62.23 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust
Object number40-18
On View
On view
Gallery Location
  • 227
Exhibition History

Art in Asia and the West, San Francisco Museum of Art, October 28-December 1, 1957, no. 3j as Dancing Yakshini.

Gallery Label
The pillar extending above this sculpture of a dancing woman suggests that she may have once served as a bracket figure in an elaborately decorated temple ceiling. From this location, the suspended celestial goddess would gaze down upon visitors to the temple. Her dynamic, twisted posture is typical of medieval sculpture from North India.
Provenance

With H. M. Calmann (Gallery), London, by 1940;

Purchased from H. M. Calmann (Gallery) by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1940.

Published References

K. de B. Codrington, An Introduction to the Study of Mediaeval Indian Sculpture (London: Edward Goldston, 1929), 30, plate 15a, plate 15b, (repro.).

The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, The William Rockhill Nelson Collection, 3rd ed. (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1949), 184, (repro.).

San Francisco Museum of Art, Art in Asia and the West, exh. cat. (San Francisco, California: H. S. Crocker Co., Inc., 1957), 13, 30, (repro.).

Ross E. Taggart, ed., Handbook of the Collections in the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 4th ed. (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1959), 229, (repro.).

Ross E. Taggart and George L. McKenna, eds., Handbook of the Collections in The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, Kansas City, Missouri, vol. 2, Art of the Orient, 5th ed. (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1973), 125, (repro.).

Roger Ward and Patricia J. Fidler, eds., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection (New York: Hudson Hills Press, in association with Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1993), 381, (repro.).

Deborah Emont Scott, ed., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection, 7th ed. (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2008), 268, fig. 35, (repro.).

Information about a particular artwork or image, including provenance information, is based upon historic information and may not be currently accurate or complete. Research on artwork and images is an ongoing process, and the information about a particular artwork or image may not reflect the most current information available to the Museum. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about a particular artwork or image, please e-mail provenance@nelson-atkins.org.


Torso of a Buddha
5th century C.E.
39-19
recto overall
9th century C.E.
70-45
Standing Male Figure
11th century
46-34
Male Head
2nd century C.E.
51-32
Torso of a Buddha
5th century C.E.
45-15
Base of a Sculpture of Surya
6th-7th century C.E.
48-19
Pillar Fragment with an Apsaras
late 13th-early 14th century
49-21