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Indian Art in the Ashmolean Museum

A catalogue of the Ashmolean’s collection of Indian art by J. C. Harle and Andrew Topsfield (published Oxford, 1987).

Indian Art in the Ashmolean Museum by J. C. Harle and Andrew Topsfield

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Relief depicting the birth of the Buddha

  • Literature notes

    Since the Buddha was a historical figure, incidents in his life, as in that of Christ, have always been a favourite with painters and sculptors. Of these, his birth numbers amongst the most important, along with his conception, his achievement of illumination under the Bodhi-tree at Bodhgaya, the first sermon preached in the deer park at Sarnath, the great miracle at Śrāvastī, and the parinrivāna or death, of which the Museum holds the companion piece to the birth.

    Traditionally, the Buddha is shown being born from the right side of his mother, to be received by the god Indra. He wears a halo, as do the heads of several other male figures, all presumably Hindu gods. Their presence attests to their role in Buddhism: they are simply enlisted as particularly eminent worshippers of the Buddha.

    Māyā, the Buddha’s mother, is seen holding a frond of the highly stylised foliage canopy above her. This refers to the immemorial fertility association in India between a young girl and a tree, recorded in countless carvings (sālabhañjikās) where a young woman bends or clings to the foliage of a tree. On her proper left stands a young woman carrying a pot of consecrated water, essential at such an event, and probably a stick of sugar cane. The upward billowing curve of her scarf is a Western Asian and classical motif.

    The attempt at illusionist carving and the treatment of the draperies all strongly suggest Roman reliefs of the first and second centuries A.D. The influence of the classical west is to a greater or lesser degree all-pervasive in Gandhara. At the same time the costumes and turbans are Indian, with the exception of Māyā’s tunic-like upper garment, which is ethically Kuṣāṇa.
  • Description

    Standing in a grove, Queen Maya gives birth to Prince Siddhartha Gautama, the future Buddha, from her right side. The infant is received by the god Indra, while other deities stand in attendance.

  • Details

    Associated place
    Asia Gandhara (place of creation)
    AsiaPakistanNorth-West Frontier ProvinceMardan district Sikri (possible place of creation)
    Date
    late 2nd century - early 3rd century AD
    Kushan Period (AD 50 - 600)
    Associated people
    the Buddha (active c. 560 BC - c. 486 BC) (subject)
    Material and technique
    grey schist
    Dimensions
    37 x 42 x 12 cm (height x width x depth)
    Material index
    Technique index
    formed carved,
    Object type index
    No. of items
    1
    Credit line
    Presented by the Reverend J. C. Murray-Aynsley, 1911.
    Accession no.
    EAOS.3
  • Further reading

    Harle, J. C., and Andrew Topsfield, Indian Art in the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 1987), no. 17 on pp. 14-15, pp. 22 & 39, illus. p. 15

    Harle, J. C., The Art and Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent, Pelican History of Art (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1986), fig.58

    Branfoot, Crispin, ‘Pilgrimage in South Asia: Crossing Boundaries of Space and Faith’, Ruth Barnes and Crispin Branfoot, eds, Pilgrimage: The Sacred Journey (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2006), p. 56, illus. p. 56 figs 50 a & b

    Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2006, Pilgrimage: The Sacred Journey, Ruth Barnes and Crispin Branfoot, eds. (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2006), p. 56, illus. p. 56 fig. 50b

Location

    • Ground floor | Room 12 | India to 600

Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.

 

Publications online

  • Indian Art in the Ashmolean Museum by J. C. Harle and Andrew Topsfield

    Indian Art in the Ashmolean Museum

    Since the Buddha was a historical figure, incidents in his life, as in that of Christ, have always been a favourite with painters and sculptors. Of these, his birth numbers amongst the most important, along with his conception, his achievement of illumination under the Bodhi-tree at Bodhgaya, the first sermon preached in the deer park at Sarnath, the great miracle at Śrāvastī, and the parinrivāna or death, of which the Museum holds the companion piece to the birth.

    Traditionally, the Buddha is shown being born from the right side of his mother, to be received by the god Indra. He wears a halo, as do the heads of several other male figures, all presumably Hindu gods. Their presence attests to their role in Buddhism: they are simply enlisted as particularly eminent worshippers of the Buddha.

    Māyā, the Buddha’s mother, is seen holding a frond of the highly stylised foliage canopy above her. This refers to the immemorial fertility association in India between a young girl and a tree, recorded in countless carvings (sālabhañjikās) where a young woman bends or clings to the foliage of a tree. On her proper left stands a young woman carrying a pot of consecrated water, essential at such an event, and probably a stick of sugar cane. The upward billowing curve of her scarf is a Western Asian and classical motif.

    The attempt at illusionist carving and the treatment of the draperies all strongly suggest Roman reliefs of the first and second centuries A.D. The influence of the classical west is to a greater or lesser degree all-pervasive in Gandhara. At the same time the costumes and turbans are Indian, with the exception of Māyā’s tunic-like upper garment, which is ethically Kuṣāṇa.
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