Durga
- DATE:
- 15th–18th century
- MATERIAL AND TECHNIQUE:
- Wood with paint
- CLASSIFICATION:
- Sculpture
- DIMENSIONS:
- 95 1/2 × 26 1/2 × 6 1/2 in. (2 m 42.57 cm × 67.31 cm × 16.51 cm) Weight: 130 lb. (58967.61 grams)
- DEPARTMENT:
- Arts of Asia
- LOCATION:
- Not On View
- CREDIT LINE:
- Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Marcus Foundation
- COPYRIGHT:
- Image courtesy Dallas Museum of Art
- OBJECT NUMBER:
- 1959.159
General Description
The most common representations of Durga depict the goddess slaying the buffalo demon, or together with Shiva, her husband. However, she is occasionally shown alone on her lion mount, as she is in this wooden sculpture. Her upper two hands clasp lotus buds, while her lower right hand rests on the handle of a mace. Wooden sculptures such as this one became especially popular in the 17th and 18th centuries in large parts of western India. This sculpture probably come from the coastal region of Maharashtra or Karnataka states.
Adapted from
Frederick Asher, "Durga," in The Arts of India, South East Asia, and the Himalayas, Anne R. Bromberg (Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2013), 105.