The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Bracket with Two Musicians

Bracket with Two Musicians

100s CE

Did You Know?

The bearded man plays a lute-like instrument, while his companion holds a clapper-type percussion instrument similar to the kartal still used in parts of India today.

Description

This vaulted bracket, with acanthus leaves on the side, is decorated with a musician-couple who stand on a lotus pedestal. Both figures wear heavily draped robes that consist of two garments: an outer one—like the classical Greek himation—and the inner one, ankle length on the male and floor length on the female. The man's head is covered with a cap or a hood, while the young woman wears her hair pulled into a chignon and decorated with a garland. She also wears heavy earrings. The bracket or corbel of this type, originally probably placed fairly high, seems to be a particularly appropriate component for being decorated with celestial, heavenly musicians. The style is quite characteristic for the Swat area, particularly around Butkara, where Domenico Faccenna conducted extensive archaeological excavations. A number of comparable pieces, including voluted brackets, are decorated with acanthus leaves and figures of diverse types, some of which are celestial musicians who hold the same instruments. The facial types represented here are almost identical to some of the figures from Butkara.
  • ?–1980
    (Julian Sherrier, London, UK, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1980–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Lee, Sherman E. "The Year in Review for 1980." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 68, no. 6 (1981): 163-219. Mentioned: no. 284, p. 218; Reproduced: no. 284, p. 200 www.jstor.org
    Czuma, Stanislaw J., and Rekha Morris. Kushan Sculpture: Images from Early India. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1985. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 94, p. 181
    Kurita, Isao 栗田功. Gandhāran art [ガンダ-ラ美術 = Gandāra bijutsu]. Vol. 2. The world of the Buddha [佛陀の世界 = Budda no sekai]. Tōkyō: Nigensha, 1988. Mentioned and Reproduced: vol. 2, fig. 690, p. 231
    Kenoyer, Jonathan M., and Kimberley Burton Heuston. The Ancient South Asian World. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 156
  • Kushan Sculpture: Images from Early India. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 13, 1985-January 5, 1986).
    The Twain Shall Meet. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 30, 1985-January 5, 1986).
    Year in Review: 1980. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (June 24-July 19, 1981).
  • {{cite web|title=Bracket with Two Musicians|url=false|author=|year=100s CE|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1980.15