Pompeii Lakshmi

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Pompeii Yakshi
An ivory statuette of Lakshmi (1st century CE), found in the ruins of Pompeii
MaterialIvory
Height24.5 cm (9+1⁄2 in)
Discoveredc. 1930–1938
Pompeii
Present locationSecret Museum, Naples, Italy
Identification149425
Pompeii Lakshmi is located in Italy
Pompeii Lakshmi
class=notpageimage|
Location of Pompeii, where the Lakshmi statuette was excavated

The Pompeii Lakshmi is an ivory statuette that was discovered in the ruins of

eruption of Mount Vesuvius 79 CE. It was found by Amedeo Maiuri, an Italian scholar, in 1938.[1] The statuette has been dated to the first-century CE.[2] The statuette is thought of as representing an Indian goddess of feminine beauty and fertility. It is possible that the sculpture originally formed the handle of a mirror.[2] The yakshi is evidence of commercial trade between India and Rome
in the first century CE.

Originally, it was thought that the statuette represented the goddess

Indian cultures.[1]

The figure is now in the

Naples National Archaeological Museum.[5]

Contents

The statuette was discovered in October 1938 beside the Casa dei Quattro stili at Pompeii.[2] Based on its architectural remains and floor plan, this "House of the Four Styles," directly off of the Via dell'Abbondanza, is now believed to have belonged to a successful merchant.[6] It is crammed with luxurious Indian commodities, suggesting that Romans in the first century CE had a fascination with antiquities not just from Greece but also from remote cultures, and that Romans had a desire to acquire objects they considered exotic.[6]

Standing at 0.25 metres (9.8 in), high the statuette is nearly naked apart from her narrow girdle and lavish jewels as well as an elaborate coiffure. She has two female attendants, one facing outward on each side, holding cosmetics containers.[3] The statuette has a hole bored down from the top of her head. There is the theory that its purpose may have been a mirror handle.[2]

The existence of this statuette in Pompeii by 79 CE, when Mount Vesuvius erupted and buried the city, testifies to the intensity of Indo-Roman trade relations during the 1st century CE.[3][7] This statuette has been dated by the Naples National Archaeological Museum as having been created in India in the first half of that century.[5]

  • The statuette upon discovery in Pompeii, before reconstitution.
    The statuette upon discovery in Pompeii, before reconstitution.
  • The Pompeii Lakshmi, front and back.
    The Pompeii Lakshmi, front and back.
  • Sides of the statuette.
    Sides of the statuette.

Trade

Further information: Indo-Roman relations

Though the origin is not entirely certain, based on archeological finds and historian work, the Pompeii Lakshmi has had a questionable origin. There is evidence of the then active trade routes between the

Periplus Maris Erythraei reveals.[8]

There is a possibility that the statuette found its way to the west during the rule of

Barigaza.[9]

Rome played an important part in the Eastern oriental trade of antiquity, they imported many goods from India and at the same time set up their own trading stations in the country.[10] According to Cobb, trading through land routes such as crossing the Arabian Peninsula and Mesopotamia, and through seaborne trade from the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean were used by the Romans.[10]

The wealth of the trade was significant enough for Pliny to claim that 100 million sesterces were being sent annually to India, China, and Arabia.[10] With shipments of nard, ivory, and textiles it is clear from the archaeological evidence, that Roman trade with the East peaked in the first and second centuries CE.[10] This time period also witnessed a material shift among Roman craftsmanship, which rapidly began to favor imported ivory over traditional bone for use in furniture, musical instruments, accessories, and more.[11] The insatiable desire for artisan ivory work even led to the creation of a politically powerful guild of Roman ivory workers: the Eborarii.[11]

Origin

The Kharosthi letter śi was inscribed on the base of the statuette.[12]

It was initially assumed that the statuette had been produced at

Satavahana territory and cultural sphere, although it might have been held for a few decades by the Western Satraps, who may have been the ones who provided an export route to the Roman world.[14]

There is also an inscriptive mark in Kharosthi at the base of the Pompeii statuette (the letter śi, as the śi in Shiva).[12] This suggests she might have originated from the northwestern regions of India, Pakistan, or Afghanistan, or at least passed through these areas.[15] Since the Pompeii statuette was necessarily made sometime before 79 CE, if it was indeed manufactured in Gandhara, it would suggest that the Begram ivories are also of this early date, in the 1st century CE.[15]

Iconography

The statuette is represented in the round, and the center of two other female figures. The legs are turned to its side and one arm bent to hold earrings. She is presumed to only be looked at from the front because the details from the back are very flat. As stated by D’Ancona, the iconography falls into the broad category of female deities in India.[16]

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Bhokardan, India, where similar statuettes were found, and from where the Pompeii statuette may have originated.[13]

In a case of cross-cultural pollination, the theme of the goddess attended by two child attendants, which can be seen in the case of the Pompeii Lakshmi, is an uncommon depiction of Lakshmi or Yashis in

Interpretatio Romana) could absolutely explain the seeming mixture of Indian and Classical art present in the Pompeii Lakshmi.[1][18]

Brahmi script.[19] The craftsmen were probably responsible for the foreign-looking motifs and figures that can be found on the railings of the stupa.[19]

  • Venus with cupid attendants.
    Venus with cupid attendants.
  • Venus with cupid attendants.
    Venus with cupid attendants.
  • Lakshmi with lotus and child attendants, Sanchi Stupa No.2, 115 BCE.
    Sanchi Stupa No.2
    , 115 BCE.
  • A woman, almost certainly Venus, reclines on a couch accompanied by two cupid attendants (reproduction)
    A woman, almost certainly Venus, reclines on a couch accompanied by two cupid attendants (reproduction)


See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pompeii Lakshmi.

References

  1. ^
    JSTOR 3248502
    .
  2. ^
    JSTOR 4340562
    .
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-1847650641
    .
  4. ISBN 978-8170174165
    .
  5. ^ a b "Lakshmi". Museo Archeologico Napoli. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  6. ^
    ISSN
    0022-4995.
  7. ISBN 9780892369416
    .
  8. ^
    S2CID 145360753
    .
  9. ISBN 978-9004185258
    .
  10. ^
    S2CID 161205518
    .
  11. ^
    ISSN
    0333-5844.
  12. ^ a b Statuetta eburnea di arte indiana a Pompei, Maiuri p. 112
  13. ^
    ISBN 9788171548552
    .
  14. ISBN 978-9004185258
    .
  15. ^ a b Afghanistan: Forging Civilizations Along the Silk Road, Joan Aruz, Elisabetta Valtz Fino, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012 p. 75
  16. ISBN 978-0892369416
    .
  17. ^ "Imitation of a Statuette of a Female Reclining on a Couch with Erotes (The J. Paul Getty Museum Collection)". The J. Paul Getty Museum Collection. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  18. ^
    doi
    :10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935390.013.128.
  19. ^ a b An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology, by Amalananda Ghosh, Brill p. 295

External links

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