Celestial Woman with a Bell

Label

Like the other depiction of a celestial woman in this gallery, this sculpture was once part of a door, where profusions of carved decoration served to highlight the transition between secular and sacred spaces. Unlike the other sculpture, this woman bears more attributes, or characteristic symbols, to indicate her identity. Based on the handle of the bell that she holds in her left hand, which has three prongs, she is likely associated with the Hindu god Shiva, who carries a trisula (trident). She may be a minor goddess or a religious devotee.

The woman’s bell, her dancing pose, and the drum situated between the crossed legs of the man at her feet all suggest the experience of music. Hindu temples often resonated with sounds, whether the sacred sound of hymns and bells or the excitement of a festive performance. While this fragment is now surrounded by the chatter of students and murmurs of visitors, the figure’s music still echoes through the galleries for those who would look closely.

From the 2024 exhibition Ancient Narratives: A New Look at Old Art, curated by Ashley B. Offill, Curator of Collections

Course History

SART 17.08, Digital Drawing, Karol Kawiaka, Fall 2020

COCO 26.01, What's in Your Toolbox?, Heidi Denzel and Mokhtar Bouba, Fall 2022

COCO 26.01, What's in Your Toolbox?, Heidi Denzel and Mokhtar Bouba, Fall 2022

Anthropology 3.01, Introduction to Anthropology, Charis Ford Morrison Boke, Summer 2023

Art History 31.01, Arts of South Asia, Seher Agarwala, Fall 2023

Italian 3.01, Introductory Italian III, Floriana Ciniglia, Winter 2024

Religion 4.01, Jewish Studies 4.01, Religion of Israel: Hebrew Bible, Susan Ackerman, Winter 2024

Studio Art 16.01, Sculpture I, Matt Siegle, Winter 2024

Anthropology 55.01, Anthropology of Global Health, Anne Sosin, Spring 2024

Geography 21.01, International Studies 18.01, Global Health and Society, Anne Sosin, Spring 2024

Exhibition History

Ancient and Premodern Global Cultures, Gene Y. Kim Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 26, 2019.

Critical Faculties: Teaching with the Hood's Collections, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 15-March 13, 2005.

Global Cultures at the Hood: Ancient to Premodern, Gene Y. Kim Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 26. 2019.

Provenance

Collected by David Herbert Beskind (1915-2015), New York, New York, date unknown; given to present collection, 1967.

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Subjects