{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O25162"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O25162/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AK9805/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AK9805/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AK9805","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O25162/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O25162","accessionNumber":"IS.273-1951","objectType":"Figure","titles":[{"title":"Apsara","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"","physicalDescription":"A female figure depicted standing in <i>tribanga</i> pose beneath a flowering tree, the curving trunk of which disappears behind her and is seen sprouting from its base on her left. Her right arm is raised and rests on top of her head which is turned to look at a mirror held up with her left hand. The tail of a scarf hangs in pleats curving down the right side of her body She wears a diaphanous lower garment apparent in the folds below her waist and above and below her knees. She is richly bejewelled with a heavy girdle and ropes of pearls, earrings, armbands, anklets and necklaces, wearing only a loincloth with a jewelled girdle and a muslin upper garment depicted only by its hanging ends.  Below the double lotus pedestal there are conventional foliage motifs, partly defaced. The figure is also damaged at the chin and on her breasts.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"sandstone","id":"AAT11376"}],"techniques":[{"text":"carving","id":"AAT53149"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Sandstone","categories":[{"text":"Sculpture","id":"THES48896"},{"text":"Hinduism","id":"THES48941"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SSEA","id":"THES48598"},"images":["2006AK9805"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES404219"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Figure","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"No","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Odisha","id":"x29837"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"The carving is believed to have come from one of the temples at Bhubaneshwar."}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 11th century","earliest":"0995-01-01","latest":"1104-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[{"object":{"text":"IS.274-1951","id":"O25085"},"association":"Pair"}],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"21.25","unit":"in","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"4.5","unit":"in","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"3","unit":"in","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"4.5","unit":"in","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"3.25","unit":"in","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Sold at Sotheby's sale of 15th June 1951, lot 86 together with IS.274-1951. The Sotheby's catalogue states that the pair was' taken from a wall of a temple at Bhuvaneswar, Orissa, Bengal, when it was repaired in 1899 and given by the Public Works Department of Bengal to an ancestor of the present owner'. Further attempts by the Museum  to discover more of their history proved unsuccessful. The conservation work undertaken by the Archaeological Survey of India ( A.S.I.) is summarised in their<u> Annual Report</u> of 1902-03, pp.45-46. 'Carvings , when broken and lost, were replaced by new ones with careful discretion' and ' only such carvings have been replaced by new ones of which the original pattern was available'.","historicalContext":"The subsidiary scenes in temple decorations are often occupied by semi-divine figures, such as the <i>apsara</i> (celestial beauty) seen here standing beneath a flowering tree holding a mirror and the <i>gandharva </i>(celestial musician), represented playing a flute.  Both figures are adorned with jewels and are supported on lotus pedestals.  These figures were reportedly collected at Bhubaneshwar in 1899 during repairs to one of the temples.","briefDescription":"Apsara (Celestial beauty), sandstone, Odisha, Eastern India, 11th century.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Archaeological Survey of India, <u>Annual Report</u>, 1902-3, pp43,ff\r\nSotheby's sale cat.15 June 1951"},{"reference":{"text":"Irwin, John C., Indian Art, Victoria and Albert Museum, London: H. M. Stationery Office, 1968","id":"AUTH348144"},"details":"pl. 21","free":""}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[{"text":"Hinduism","id":"AAT73727"}],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"17. Architectural Figures of a Celestial Musician\r\n(Gandharva) and Beauty (Apsaras)\r\n1000–1100\r\nSandstone\r\nEastern India (Bhuvaneshwar, Orissa)\r\nMuseum nos. IS.273, 274-1951","date":{"text":"06/06/2011","earliest":"2011-06-06","latest":"2011-06-06"}}],"partNumbers":["IS.273-1951"],"accessionNumberNum":"273","accessionNumberPrefix":"IS","accessionYear":1951,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-03-29","recordCreationDate":"2000-02-14","availableToBook":false}}