Navagraphs (9 Planets). East Rajasthan 10th-11th Century. London, Victoria and Albert Museum.
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Photographer: Arthur Llewellyn Basham
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In the 10th century, Rajasthan, one of the Rajput states, gained its independence from the Rashtrakutas and returned to its native tastes in art, where religious feeling was most important even at the cost of musicality in the compositions. Toward the middle of the 11th century, however, there is a return to the fashionable sleekness in which the human form is reduced to a somewhat lifeless doll while the ornaments become richer and richer. The sculpture in our illustration was part of a temple decoration (as most sculpture was) and serves to illustrate the manner in which the Rajput artists broke up the wall surfaces of their buildings with repetitive designs and figures to produce a composition of light and dark rhythms. No individual figure stands out in such an arrangement, but in the sense that a purely decorative purpose was being served, this type of sculpture is nevertheless effective.
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Archives Series
Basham Collection
Date created
circa 1970s
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This item is provided for research purposes. Contact the Australian National University Archives at butlin.archives@anu.edu.au for permission to use.
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