Gavampati

Description The rotund figure invites handling, but its function is not known- water dropper, rattle, and chess man are among the suggestions. The full body, the division between belly and chest, and the lively shaping of eyes and mouth are features that invite a comparision with the great mythical birds, the Garudas, found on Cambodian lintels of the late 6th and early 7th centuries. In an early Dvaravati sculpture, a Garuda of this type supports a figure of the standing Buddha. However, the figure likely represents Gavampati, one of the disciples of the Buddha and is represented in the form of a "fat monk."

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
11/18/1983	Examination	survey
4/11/1994	Examination	survey
4/11/1994	Treatment	cleaned

Provenance Alexander B. Griswold [under the auspices of the Breezewood Foundation, inv. no. 120, Monkton; Walters Art Museum, 1979, by gift.

Inscriptions none

Credit Gift of the Breezewood Foundation, 1979