Accession Number
2001/2.133

Title
Lakshmi Lustrated by Elephants

Artist(s)
Artist Unknown, India, Rajasthan, Bundi School

Object Creation Date
19th century

Medium & Support
ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper

Dimensions
8 11/16 in x 12 11/16 in (22 cm x 32.2 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Professor Walter M. and Nesta R. Spink

Label copy
Gallery Rotation Winter 2013
Lakshmi Lustrated by Elephants (Gaja Lakshmi)
India, Rajasthan, Bundi
19th century
Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
Gift of Professor Walter M. and Nesta R. Spink
2001/2.133
Lakshmi, the goddess of abundance, first appeared in Indian art in the first century BCE in clay or stone images in which she is flanked by elephants, which are a sign of wealth and water in India and often have connotations of fecundity. That ancient iconography is beautifully reimagined in this painting, where Lakshmi sits on a low throne by the bank of a pond, washing her hair in water poured from pots held aloft by bejeweled white pachyderms. Lotuses abound in Lakshmi’s crown, on the backs of the great white beasts, and in the pond.
The Bundi and Kotah schools of painting, located in two neighboring states in southeast Rajasthan, were renowned for their naturalistic treatment of animals.
Iconography is the study of the conventional treatment of subject matter and the identification of symbolic or allegorical meanings based in either spiritual or cultural traditions. This series examines Hindu deities and the objects and animals often associated with them.

; Label copy
Anonymous
Lakshmi Lustrated by Elephants
India, Rajasthan, Bundi school
19th century
Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
Gift of Professor Walter M. and Nesta R. Spink, 2001/2.133

Subject matter
Lakshmi, the goddess of abundance, is flanked by elephants, which are a sign of wealth and water in India and often have connotations of fecundity. Lakshmi sits on a low throne by the bank of a pond, washing her hair in water poured from pots held aloft by bejeweled white pachyderms. Lotuses abound in Lakshmi’s crown, on the backs of the great white beasts, and in the pond.

Physical Description
The white elephants, which draw the eye into the image, face toward the center leading the viewer to Lakshmi who is the central figure in the frame. The image is bordered by a red colored frame. And below the figures, in the background is a dark banded representing a pond.

Primary Object Classification
Painting

Additional Object Classification(s)
Painting

Collection Area
Asian

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.

Keywords
Bundi
goddesses
lotus (motif)