Standing Attendant with a Fly Whisk
Unknown Artist
ca. 14th century
Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
H. 4 1/4 in. (10.8 cm); W. 1 1/2 in. (3.8 cm); D. 1 3/8 in. (3.5 cm)
Classification
Sculpture
Culture & Period
Sri Lanka · Divided Kingdoms period (1232–1597)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Iuliana and Mark Phillips, 1991
Accession Number
1991.458.2
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate bronze sculpture, *Standing Attendant with a Fly Whisk*, hails from Sri Lanka during the Divided Kingdoms period (2–1597), dated to the 14th. Standing just 4¼ inches tall, the figure captures a poised male attendant, likely from a royal or temple court, holding a fly whisk—a traditional symbol of service and vigilance. Crafted in bronze, a favored medium for durable religious and secular art in medieval Sri Lanka, it exemplifies island's sophisticated metalworking traditions amid political fragmentation following the Polonnaruwa's decline. The Divided Kingdoms era saw rival dyna...