Kinnari (female celestial bird-bodied musician)

1075-1125

Many types of semidivine beings act as attendants and celebrants in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain mythology. Some are entirely animal, some human, and others combine characteristics of both. This musician, who rings a bell with one hand, has bird wings and legs melded with a woman’s upper body. Such celestial bird attendants are often called kinnari for female types and kinnara for male.

Black stone

14 1/4 x 12 5/8 x 4 1/2 in. (36.2 x 32.07 x 11.43 cm)

Overall h.: 15 3/8 in.

Overall w.: 13 1/4 in.

Margaret E. Fuller Purchase Fund

64.115

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistoryPortland, Oregon, Portland Art Museum, "Gift to a City: Masterworks from the Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection in the Seattle Art Museum", cat. # 78

Published References"Gift to a City" exhibition catalogue. Portland, OR: Portland Art Museum, 1965, cat. no. 78

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

Learn more about Equity at SAM