{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O450395"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O450395/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2015HV5103/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2015HV5103/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2015HV5103","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2014HE5405","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O450395/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O450395","accessionNumber":"IM.309-1913","objectType":"Sculpture","titles":[{"title":"Nagakal","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"","physicalDescription":"Female crowned <i>nagini</i> holding a blossom, probably a lotus flower in her left: her right hand has been damaged.  She is wearing jewellery and a circlet beneath her navel where her lower half is shown as a wavy serpent tail.  The stone is roughly carved behind her and is plain except for two pairs of snakes either side of her head next to the now damaged ruff of cobras (their heads are now missing), which springs from her shoulders.\n\nThe stele bears a tenon at its base where it would have been slotted into its original architectural setting.","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"limestone","id":"AAT11286"}],"techniques":[{"text":"carving","id":"AAT53149"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"carved limestone","categories":[{"text":"Sculpture","id":"THES48896"},{"text":"Buddhism","id":"THES48984"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SSEA","id":"THES48598"},"images":["2015HV5103","2014HE5405"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES404205"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Relief","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"No","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Tamil Nadu","id":"x29843"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"Found at a jungle shrine in a deserted village, situated in a forest tract in the Palnad Taluqa, near the south bank of Krishna river, Kistna District, Madras Presidency (Palnadu Taluk, since 1904 in Guntur District, Andhra Pradesh)."}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"6th century","earliest":"0500-01-01","latest":"0599-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"30","unit":"in","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"15.5","unit":"in","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"71","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"18/10/2024","earliest":"2024-10-18","latest":"2024-10-18"},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"42","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"18/10/2024","earliest":"2024-10-18","latest":"2024-10-18"},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"13","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"18/10/2024","earliest":"2024-10-18","latest":"2024-10-18"},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Weight","value":"50","unit":"kg","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"18/03/2025","earliest":"2025-03-18","latest":"2025-03-18"},"part":"","note":"weighed by Technical Services on 18/3/2025"}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"In southern India Nagakals are votive tablets to snake divinities which are set up by women who wish to become pregnant.  They are frequently placed in groups in temples, entrances to villages and towns, near ponds or under trees.\r\nThis relief was purchased from Robert Sewell, (I.C.S., member of the Council of the Royal Asiatic Society) in 1913. The acquisition register records that the object was \"From a deserted village in a forest tract in the Palnad Taluqa, Kistna District, Madras Presidency.\"\r\n\r\nPurchased from R. Robert Sewell, J.C.S., 4, Britstol Gardens, Roehampton, Surrey. This acquisition information reflects that found in the Museum records (Asia Department registers and/or Central Inventory) as part of a 2023 provenance research project.\r\n\r\nRP 1913-1326M","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Snake princess; sculpture, limestone, Palnad Taluga, Buddhist, C6?.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"Barnard, Nick. 'A Third-Century CE Nagarjunakonda Relief and Other Sculpture from Andhra Pradesh in the Victoria and Albert Museum' in Shimada, A. and Willis, M. (eds.) <u>Amaravati: The Art of an Early Buddhist Monument in Context</u>, British Museum Research Publication 207. The British Museum, London, 2016. ISBN 978 0861592074.","id":"AUTH346692"},"details":"p. 81, fig. 106","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"Jansari, S. and Muthukumaran S., <i>Ancient India: Living Traditions</i>, London: The British Museum Press, 2025","id":"AUTH410830"},"details":"pp. 51-51, Fig. 1.43","free":""}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["IM.309-1913"],"accessionNumberNum":"309","accessionNumberPrefix":"IM","accessionYear":1913,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2026PM9384","2025PD5085","2025PD5083"],"recordModificationDate":"2026-06-05","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-25","availableToBook":false}}