Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Severance A. Millikin · The Cleveland Museum of Art
Image: public domain (CC0) · Museum record & image source ↗
Section of a Coping Rail
Creator not recorded by the museum
- Date
- c. 150 BCE
- Medium
- sandstone
- Dimensions
- Overall: 30.5 x 122 cm (12 x 48 1/16 in.)
- Country / context
- India
- Movement / tradition
- South Asian arts
- Collection
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Pathway
- South Asian arts ↗
A coping rail is the top portion of a fence that connects the upright posts. Here, an undulating lotus rhizome blossoms with jewelry, and in the spaces between are scenes from two of the Buddha's past lives. At the left, a man catches and kills a lizard to eat it, and then lies about its running off (Godha Jataka); at the right an ascetic performs a Vedic fire sacrifice (possibly the Rajovada Jataka).
Collection text · The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0Start with what you can see: shapes, surface, colour and scale. How might the listed materials affect the way this object was made and experienced?
Looking prompt · an invitation to observe, not a historical interpretation.Follow a connection.
Explore the tradition ↗
↗View from the Top of the Rock, looking over the native Town, Trichinopoly, India
Nicholas & Co.
↗Corner Railing Pillar with Drinking Scenes, Yakshis, and Musicians
Creator not recorded
↗Maharaja Ranbir Singh of Jammu and Kashmir with Sons and Courtiers
Bourne & Shepherd
↗Double-Faced Crossbar from a Railing
Creator not recorded