Page 29 - Met Museum Ghandara Incense Burner

5 1 . Although I know of no incense burners illustrated in southern pp. 36-37, fig. 46; and see also D. E. Strong, Greek and Roman
or central Indian art, a lit lamp appears in the scene of the con- Gold and Silver Plate (London, 1966), pl. 29B. In a paper that
ception of the Buddha at Bharhut (Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, has been in press for some time (" 'The Amaravati Master':
La sculpture Spatial Conventions in the Art of Amaravati," in a commemo-
de Bharhut [Paris, 1956], pl. 24, fig. 61), and an
object which seems to be a fire altar is in a miniature Roman- rative volume for Dr. H. Sarkar [New Delhi: Archaeological
of
style temple illustrated at Amaravati (Robert Knox, Amaravati: Survey India]), I suggested that South Indian artists may
Buddhist from the Great have seen classical painting represented Pompeii. At the
as
in
Sculpture
Stupa [London, 1992], p. 143).
in
52. Although Persian influence is apparent India, I have argued time, the association seemed to me to be visually analogous but
that other sources also played important role (see Elizabeth historically questionable. As information on the specifically
an
Rosen Stone, "Greece and India: The Ashokan Pillars Revis- Italian contribution to India accumulates, these ideas are
Greeks
ited," in Karageorghis, beyond Aegean, pp. 167-88). more plausible.
the
53. These ideas need to be reviewed and carefully spelled out. 7 1 . Kossak in Martin Lerner and Steven Kossak, The Lotus Tran-
54. Bernard Goldman, "Persian Domed Turibula," Studia Iranica 20 scendent: Indian and Southeast Asian Art from the Samuel Eilen-
(1991), pp. 179-88. For Anatolian examples, see pl. 19AA, BB. berg Collection (New York, 1991), pp. 60-65, nos- 17-25. John
"The
of
55. For variants of these burners, see A. S. Melikian-Chirvani, Boardman (in Errington and Cribb, Crossroads Asia, p. 152)
Bulletin the Asia Institute, n.s.
International Achaemenid Style," of referred to them as palettes or small stone trays, stating that
or
7 (1993)' PP- iii-3°- some are meant to contain pigment perfume. However, he
56. Ibid., p. 116, fig. 4.5. cited Kossak and said, "that this was their only function is open
57. Goldman, "Persian Domed Turibula," pp. 180-82. to question."
see Henri-Paul Francfort, Les
58. Carter, "Two Indo-Scythian Bronzes," pp. 125, 129. 72. For a negative comparison, palettes
Collection the
59. Ellen Reeder Williams, The Archaeological of Johns du Gandhara, Memoires de la Delegation archeologique fran-
Hopkins University (Baltimore, 1984), pp. 63-64. gaise en Afghanistan 23 (Paris, 1979), pls. 50-52. Boardman
60. David Gordon Mitten and Susan F. Doeringer, Master Bronzes (in Errington and Cribb, Crossroads Asia, p. 152) also referred
of
in
(Cambridge, 1967), no. 22.
from the Classical World to examples Egypt and Asia Minor.
A Handbook
61. Larissa Bonfante, ed., Etruscan and Afterlife: of 73. For an illustration of this piece in its original context, see Ettore
Life
Etruscan Studies (Detroit, 1986), pp. 140, 148, fig. 4-74. M. Dejuliis, Gli ori di Taranto in eta ellenistica (Milan, 1985), fron-
p. 41, fig. 5.
62. Wigand, "Thymiateria," tis. and pp. 58-61. It opens in the same manner as a woman's
63. Ibid., pl. 5, no. 1, pl. 6, no. 1. compact, except that the image is where a mirror would be.
Loeschcke
64. Wigand (ibid., p. 47) said that this sketch by Siegfried 74. See, for example, Ernngton and Cribb, Crossroads Asia, no. 98,
oj
was based upon a vase which was in the Antikensammlung, color ill. 21.
p.
Akademisches Kunstmuseum der Universitat Bonn. As I had 75. See Islay Lyons and Harald Ingholt, Gandharan Art in Pakistan
been unable to obtain a photograph of the original, Joan (New York, 1957), figs. 340, 341.
Mertens kindly offered to help pursue the matter. In a letter to 76. See, for example, a dish from Sirkap (ibid., fig. 48; Francfort,
Dr. Mertens dated July 31, 2004, Dr. Nikolai Himmelman con- Les palettes Gandhara, pl. 14).
du
firmed that the vase was not in Bonn, but that the sketch was 77. Marshall, Taxila, vol. 2, p. 596, no. 323, vol. 3, pl. 184m; Pfrom-
made in Athens. I thank both Dr. Mertens and Dr. Himmelman mer, Alexandrinischer und grossgriechischer no.
Toreutik, 14.
for their efforts. 78. Marshall, Taxila, vol. 2, p. 596, no. 326, vol. 3, pl. 176.
65. The burner bears an inscription which indicates that it was ded- 79. Ibid., vol. 2, p. 492, no. bo, vol. 3, pl. 141.
icated to "holy Aphrodite." Clearly the Indians use these burn- 80. Ibid., vol. 2, p. 603, no. 399, vol. 3, pl. 185J; Hackin, Recherches
vol.
ers for their own purposes. archeologiques, 2, pl. 20, fig. 46.
66. According Joan R. Mertens ("An Early Greek Bronze Sphinx 81. Marshall, Taxila, vol. 2, pp. 598-99, nos. 344-52, vol. 3,
to
Museum
Support," Metropolitan Journal 37 [2002], pp. 23-33), pl. 176.
the animation of utilitarian objects through the use of figural 82. Ibid., vol. 2, p. 605, no. 420, vol. 3, pl. 172U. Marshall stated
motifs is one of the hallmarks of Greek art. This particular that the technique rough but the treatment of the wreath in
is
motif, the sphinx with one foot in the shape of a lion's paw, is different patterns typically Greco-Roman, implying that this is
is
one of the most enduring in the West. a local copy of a Western work.
67. Michael Pfrommer, Studien zu alexandrinischer grossgriechis- 83. Ibid., vol. 2, p. 387, nos. 245-50, vol. 3, pl. i82g-m.
und
cher Toreutik Zeit,
fruhhellenistischer Archaologische Forschungen 84. Ibid., vol. 2, p. 498, no. 92, vol. 3, pl. 14b.
16 (Berlin, 1987), pp. 29-35, P*s- 2' 3- 85. Ibid., vol. 2, p. 631, no. 85, vol. 3, pl. 191V.
68. Marshall, Taxila, vol. 3, pl. 65^ According to Marshall, this 86. Ibid., vol. 2, pp. 257-58, no. 252a, b, vol. 3, pls. 36d, 1820.
incense burner was excavated in the Dharmarajika area. It post- 87. Ibid., vol. 1, p. 340, vol. 3, pl. 8oh. From the context of this find,
to
dated the major construction of the stupa and probably belongs it is possible suggest that this example is a later variant of the
burner.
to the fourth or fifth century a.d. It is an excellent example of Levy-White
the complete Indianization of a classical form. The Levy-White 88. Ibid., vol. 1, p. 327, vol. 3, pl. 8og.
incense burner clearly stays closer to the classical 89. Using Cribb and Bopearachchi's chronology (see note 33, above).
prototype.
from
69. Ibid., pp. 36-40, pl. 32. See also Pierre Wuilleumier, Le tresor de 90. See Domenico Faccenna and Maurizio Taddei, Sculptures
Tarente (Collection the Sacred Area ofButkara I, Swat, W. Pakistan, Istituto Italiano per
Edmond de Rothschild) (Paris, 1930), pp. 48-52,
Pi. 7. il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, Reports and Memoirs 2, pts. 2, 3
70. Elizabeth Rosen [Stone], "A Dated Memorial Pillar from (Rome, 1962-64); and Pierfrancesco Callieri et al., Saidu Sharif
Its
in Indian
on the
Nagarjunakonda," Epigraphy: Bearing History I (Swat, Pakistan), Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Ori-
of Art, ed. Frederick M. Asher and G. S. Gai (New Delhi, 1985), ente, Reports and Memoirs 23 (Rome, 1989).
97