Section of Monolithic Railing with Bather and Lotus Medallions
Unknown Artist
c. 150–250 CE
Medium
red sandstone
Dimensions
53.3 × 45.8 cm
Classification
Sculpture
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession Number
1943.71
About this artwork
Railings demarcated a sacred space, such as a tree shrine or a stupa. Images associated with purifying waters were carved on the railings, as if to symbolically cleanse those who passed through the gate. Under a fruit-bearing tree is a young woman squeezing water from her hair. In a visual depiction of an ancient Indian poetic trope, a goose mistakes the drops of water for pearls and comes to eat them.