Artwork Page for Roundel with Mermaids and Lotus

Details / Information for Roundel with Mermaids and Lotus

Roundel with Mermaids and Lotus

c. 100 BCE

India, Bengal, Chandraketugarh area, Shunga period

(185–78 BCE)
Medium
ivory
Measurements
Diameter: 10.5 cm (4 1/8 in.); Overall: 2.5 cm (1 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of John Eskenazi in honor of Dr. Stanislaw J. Czuma 2010.295
Public Domain
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Location
242A Ancient India
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Description

This ivory disk was possibly part of a massive earring around which lobes were stretched so that they rest on the shoulders. Eight figures that are half woman and half fish hold hands in a ring around a series of concentric circles containing floral imagery. Their hands and tails make the repeated form of an auspicious trident-shaped symbol, often depicted with fish tails in combination with a lotus flower. The full-breasted forms, the tails, and the lotus flowers evoke the imagery of life-giving waters. A circle of eight female figures later comes to refer to the maidens of the eight directions of the sky (ashtadikpalikas).

Roundel with Mermaids and Lotus

c. 100 BCE

India, Bengal, Chandraketugarh area, Shunga period (185–78 BCE)

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