This powerful red goddess raises one hand that would have held a flaying knife, while the other once held a skull cup. Her bone skirt and garland of freshly severed heads complement the skulls that adorn her crown. Her eyes bulge, her brow furrows, and she bares her teeth. These attributes communicate her ability to assist her followers in overcoming passions, ignorance, and fear.
The wooden post is an original part of this sculpture, a rare example that survives in polychromed clay. The clay was mixed with straw and sculpted around an iron armature; rope strings were used under the clay to build up her ornaments, which were then painted.
Details
- Title : Goddess Vajravarahi
- Year : 1400s
- Classification : Sculpture
- Medium : Unbaked clay and pigment
- Dimension : Overall: 63.5 cm (25 in.)
- Country/ Geo-location : Nepal
- Period : 15th century
- Collection : The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Credit Line : Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund
- Status : On View 237 Himalayan
- Collection : Nepalese Art
- Department : Indian and Southeast Asian Art
- Provenance : 1964 (Therese Margaret Clayton, New York, NY, ?-1964, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) *1964- The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, 1964-present
- Exhibition history : Year in Review (1964). The Cleveland Museum of Art (January 1-31, 1965). *Traditions and Revisions: Themes from the History of Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art (September 24-November 16, 1975).