The avatars Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, and Narasimha
Date10th century
Maker
Indian
Label TextThis superbly carved fragment is only a small portion of the carving surrounding the main icon, which would most likely have been a large standing Vishnu with four arms.
This fragment depicts the first four of Vishnu’s standard ten avatars (incarnations). The full set begins with the animal forms—the fish Matsya and the tortoise Kurma—here seen at the left center. In a niche at the top of the right half appears Vishnu’s fourth avatar, the man-lion Narasimha. Just below him is the third avatar, the boar Varaha. The rest of the slab holds a rearing vyala (a mythical lion-like creature); a female attendant with a lotus; and, at bottom right, the personification of conch shell.
Object number39.32
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. 81.
Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Boundless: Stories of Asian Art, Feb. 8, 2020 - ongoing [on view beginning Jan. 7, 2022].Published References"Handbook, Seattle Art Museum: Selected Works from the Permanent Collections." Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1951, p. 29 (b&w)
"Gift to a City" exhibition catalogue. Portland, OR: Portland Art Museum, 1965, cat. no. 81Credit LineEugene Fuller Memorial Collection
Dimensions18 3/4 x 6 x 3 3/4 in. (47.63 x 15.24 x 9.53 cm)
MediumSandstone
Indian
late 10th to early 11th century
Object number: 38.23
Indian
ca. late 10th to early 11th century
Object number: 39.33
Indian
first half of the 10th century
Object number: 50.58
Indian
ca. late 10th century
Object number: 66.10
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