The Metropolitan Museum of Art / Bulletin

The plaque below is one of the largest and most important
early Indian terracottas known. The identity of the main figure,
the principal subject of a number of such early Indian plaques,
is uncertain. Elsewhere I have suggested that she is an early
iconic depiction of the goddess Durga, who was not thought
to be represented prior to the third century. After this date
Durga is usually shown, in a narrative format, as the slayer of
the buffalo demon, Mahisha, her multiple hands holding a
bevy of weapons. Here, she displays a more pacific mien, her
arsenal stuck into her coiffure like hairpins.
Our plaque shows the goddess with female attendants and
male() supplicants within a shrine(). Two columns with
lotus capitals bearing atlantid figures, most probably yaksas
(male deities associated with the earth's bounty), support the
roof. A small gandharva (a man-bird demigod) flies down
from the upper right, his open hands undoubtedly indicating
that he has tossed some of the small flowers that pattern the
background. Durga stands with her left hand on her hip, her
right pouring a substance into a bowl held by a supplicant.
Female attendants shield her with a parasol, hold fans of
peacock feathers(), and support a large standard(). The head
of a kneeling supplicant is seen at the right.
The function of these plaques is unknown. They may have
been offerings or icons for personal devotion.
SMK
1990.z31I
INDIAN
ART
Plaque with a Proto-Durga and Attendants
India (West Bengal, Chandraketugarh[]), Shunga period,
ist century B.C.
Terracotta
Height, io/, in. (z6.7 cm)
Purchase, Herbert and Florence Irving Gift, i990o
I990.z8I
93