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Asian Art :
Art of India : Gupta Stone Bust of a Female Deity
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Gupta Stone Bust of a Female Deity - DE.022
Origin: India
Circa: 4
th
Century AD
Dimensions:
15" (38.1cm) high
x 12" (30.5cm) wide
x 6.5" (16.5cm) depth
Collection: Asian Art
Medium: Stone
Condition: Extra Fine
$4,800.00
Location: United States
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| Description |
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This imposing stone bust of a multi-armed
female deity dates from what many refer to as
the Golden Age of India. At this date, what is now
northern India, Bangladesh and parts of Pakistan
were ruled by the emperors of the Gupta Empire,
whose peaceful and prosperous rule saw a
flowering of arts and sciences that ranks
alongside the civilisations of the Han and Tang
Dynasties and the Roman Empire. The
achievements of the Gupta Empire are numerous
and impressive. Their stable currency of gold
dinars, combined with an effective administrative
system, helped to fund major developments in
architecture, medicine, art, drama, design,
mathematics and literature. The western world
learnt much of its expertise in pharmacopoeia,
cesarean section, bone setting, and skin grafting
from Indian medics of this period. The Indian
numeral system – which we use today – was
taken by the Arabs to Europe where it replaced
the Roman system; seemingly western inventions
such as the decimal system, algebra, geometry
and astronomy – especially the description of
heavenly bodies and their orbits, and the
assertion that the earth is round rather than flat
– were all either invented or refined in the Gupta
period.
The empire’s shadowy beginnings are generally
agreed to have started with the reign of Sri-
Gupta in around 250 AD, whose people may have
come from the Bengal area. By the 4th century
there were various small Gupta kingdoms
scattered around the Magadha area. The early
rulers of the Gupta Empire – and their followers –
were firm believers in Hinduism, but were
tolerant of other religions and permitted the
construction of temples and shrines to the
Buddhist faith. Interestingly, the Hindu cults of
Saivism and Vaisnavism shared many
characteristics of Buddhism, to the extent that
Buddha was eventually accepted as an alter-ego
of Vishnu.
- (DE.022)
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