Indra (Lord of storms)
Dateca. 14th century
Maker
Nepalese
Label TextThe third horizontally oriented eye and rounded crown identify this sculpture as the god Indra, who brings the monsoon rain that makes rivers flood and crops grow. In ancient India, Indra, like Zeus or Jupiter in the ancient Mediterranean, was considered ruler of the celestial realm. Although over the centuries his influence has diminished across most of South Asia, both Hindus and Buddhists in the Himalayan kingdom of Nepal still celebrate him as a major deity.
Object number51.101
Photo CreditPhoto: Paul Macapia
Exhibition HistoryPortland, Oregon, Portland Art Museum, Gift to a City: Masterworks from the Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection in the Seattle Art Museum, Nov. 3 - 28, 1965. Cat. no. 94.
Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Discovering Buddhist Art - Seeking the Sublime, July 9, 2003 - June 3, 2005.
Tokyo, Japan, Suntory Museum of Art, Luminous Jewels: Masterpieces of Asian Art From the Seattle Art Museum, July 25 - Sept. 6, 2009 (Kobe, Japan, Kobe City Museum, Sept. 19 - Dec. 6, 2009; Kofu, Japan, Yamanashi Prefectural Museum of Art, Dec. 23, 2009 - Feb. 28, 2010; Atami, Japan, MOA Museum of Art, Mar. 13 - May 9, 2010; Fukuoka, Japan, Fukuoka Art Museum, May 23 - July 19, 2010).
Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Luminous: The Art of Asia, Oct. 13, 2011 - Jan. 8, 2012.
Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Boundless: Stories of Asian Art, Feb. 8, 2020 - ongoing.
Published References"Handbook, Seattle Art Museum: Selected Works from the Permanent Collections." Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1951, p. 38 (b&w)
"Gift to a City" exhibition catalogue. Portland, OR: Portland Art Museum, 1965, cat. no. 94, illus. inside back cover
Kawai, Masatomo, Yasuhiro Nishioka, Yukiko Sirahara, editors, "Luminous Jewels: Masterpieces of Asian Art From the Seattle Art Museum", 2009, The Yomiuri Shimbun, catalogue number 98Credit LineEugene Fuller Memorial Collection
Dimensions9 1/2 x 8 x 5 1/2 in. (24.1 x 20.3 x 14cm)
MediumCopper alloy, semiprecious stones
late 14th to early 15th century
Object number: 70.2
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