Mother and Child. From Khajuraho. 11th Century. Allahabad, Municipal Museum.
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Photographer: Arthur Llewellyn Basham
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It would appear that some of the folk-art straightforwardness prevalent in northwestern Indian sculpture was not always energizing nor particularly graceful, as other regional styles at this same time were. The subject, a mother and child, would seem to naturally lend itself to soft forms and relaxed attitudes, but this is not the case. Though we are far from violent movement in this group, the specific gestures of the mother and the precarious position of her child are not restful or gentle either. Indian sculpture has a long tradition of being able to handle most any three-dimensional form in space without the difficulties expressed by other cultures (such as Egypt or Mesopotamia, for example), yet in the present example the figures are at odds with their surrounding space, almost appearing cramped within it. This group is typical of many of the works executed at Khajuraho before the 12th century, since it shows a hurried clumsy carving.
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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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