Tile with Human Figures

Description This is a floor tile from a Buddhist monastery. Joined with other tiles, it made an enclosing circle. The male figure is a guardian. The graceful woman in the see-through dress holding a vase is most likely a river goddess, suggesting prosperity.

Exhibitions

• Desire and Devotion: Art from India, Nepal, and Tibet in the John and Berthe Ford Collection. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara; Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque; Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham; Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong. 2001-2003.
• The Arts of Kashmir. Asia Society, New York. 2007-2008.

Provenance William Wolff Gallery, New York, New York [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; John and Berthe Ford, Baltimore, April 1974, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 2010, by gift.

Credit Gift of John and Berthe Ford, 2010