The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of June 1, 2023

Attendant Bearing a Fly Whisk (Chauri)

c. AD 100–150

Northern India, Uttar Pradesh, Mathura, Kushan period

(c. 80-320)

Red sandstone

Overall: 55.8 cm (21 15/16 in.)

Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund 1965.472

Location

242A Ancient India

Description

This figure would have been one of two flanking a king, the Buddha, or other royal or holy figure. The relaxed stance indicates that he is an attendant, rather than a central icon. Early depictions of the Buddha in India frequently have images of chauri-bearers on either side. They are identifiable as nature divinities called yakshas during this period, but in later periods the Buddha's attendants can be recognized as specific bodhisattvas, who are beings on the path to enlightenment.

Provenance
?–1965
(Frank Caro [1904-1980], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
1965–
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 229 archive.org
“Art of Asia Recently Acquired by American Museums, 1965.” Archives of Asian Art, vol. 20, 1966, pp. 84–113. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 87, fig. 11
Lee, Sherman E. “Golden Anniversary Acquisitions: September 10 through October 16.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 53, no. 7, 1966, pp. 181–284. Reproduced: no. 140, p. 253: Mentioned: no. 140, p. 285 www.jstor.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 229 archive.org
Czuma, Stanislaw. “Mathura Sculpture in the Cleveland Museum Collection.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 64, no. 3, 1977, pp. 83–114. Reproduced: pp. 86-87, figs. 3 and 4 www.jstor.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 288 archive.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. 18, p. 76
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. Reproduced: p. 15 archive.org
Stone, Elizabeth Rosen. “An Early Image of Maitreya as a Brahman Ascetic?” Metropolitan Museum Journal, vol. 42, 2007, pp. 57–81, 9. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 66, fig. 16 www.jstor.org
Exhibition history

Golden Anniversary of Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 10-October 16, 1966).

Kushan Sculpture: Images from Early India. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 13, 1985-January 5, 1986).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1965.472