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Title

Votive stupa with base

1st century

Artists

Unknown Artist

  • Details

    Place where the work was made
    Ancient Gandhara → Pakistan
    Period
    Kushan period mid 1st century - early 5th century
    Date
    1st century
    Media category
    Sculpture
    Materials used
    marble
    Dimensions
    23.0 x 11.9 cm overall :

    a - lid, 20 x 8.3 cm

    b - base, 3.1 x 11.9 cm

    Signature & date

    Not signed. Not dated.

    Credit
    Bequest of Alex Biancardi 2000
    Location
    Not on display
    Accession number
    27.2000.a-b
    Copyright

    Reproduction requests

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  • About

    The stupa is probably the most revered symbol in Buddhism. Its shape is based on the memorial mound raised over the mortal remains of the Buddha Shakyamuni. For the early Buddhists, the stupa was a symbol both of the Buddha's Parinirvana (extinction) and of the faith itself. Images of the stupa abound in Buddhist art, in media as diverse as stone, bronze, crystal and gold. This formally proportioned stupa is typical in construction: a base, a hemispherical body surmounted by a 'harmika' (a square structure derived from the fenced enclosures of early shrines), and crowned by a multi-tiered umbrella.

    The Asian Collections, AGNSW, 2003, pg.26.

  • Bibliography

    Referenced in 1 publication