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The Naga King Dharanendra
The Naga King Dharanendra

The Naga King Dharanendra

CultureIndian
Date10th century C.E.
MediumMagnesian schist
DimensionsOverall: 23 3/4 × 10 1/2 × 4 1/2 inches (60.33 × 26.67 × 11.43 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust
Object number51-26
On View
On view
Gallery Location
  • 227
Collections
Exhibition History

Oriental Exhibition, Washington University Gallery of Art, St. Louis, MO, January 23-March 11, 1966, no cat.

The Peaceful Liberators: Jain Art from India, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California, November 6, 1994-January 22, 1995; Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas, March 5-May 28, 1995; New Orleans Museum of Art, Louisiana, July 15-September 17, 1995; Victoria and Albert Museum, London, November 2, 1995-January 21, 1996, no. 68a as Yaksha Dharanendra.

Gallery Label
Followers of the Jain religion believe in a line of twenty-four spiritual leaders known as Tirthankaras, or Jinas. The next to the last of this series of leaders was Parshvanatha, who was protected by Dharanedra, the deity depicted here. The cobra hood behind Dharanedra’s head reveals that he is actually a naga (serpent) presented in human form.
Provenance

With C. T. Loo & Co., New York, stock no. NLP-8/1976, by August 1948-1951 [1];

Purchased from C. T. Loo, Inc. by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1951.

NOTES:

[1] C. T. Loo/Frank Caro archive, Musée Guimet, Paris, copy of stock card in Nelson-Atkins curatorial files. C. T. Loo & Co. was incorporated as C. T. Loo, Inc. in 1949.



Published References

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), 227, (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), 123, (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), 383, (repro.).

Pratapaditya Pal, The Peaceful Liberators: Jain Art from India, exh. cat. (Los Angeles, CA: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1994), 33-34, fig. 24,182-83, (repro.).

Stephen Markel, “The Peaceful Liberators: Jain Art from India,” Arts of Asia 24, no. 6 (Nov.-Dec. 1994): 80, fig. 18, (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), 264-65, fig. 24, (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.