Description
This powerful red goddess dances vigorously and raises one hand that would have held a flaying knife, while the other once held a skull cup. Her bone skirt and garland of freshly severed heads complement the skulls that adorn her crown. Her eyes bulge, her brow furrows, and she bares her teeth. These attributes communicate her power to assist her followers in overcoming passions, ignorance, and fear. This is one of the earliest surviving images made of unbaked clay, using an iron armature and rope strings to support the ornament.
Provenance
(Therese Margaret Clayton, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) (?–1964); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1964–)
Accession Number
1964.103
Medium
unbaked clay and pigment
Dimensions
Overall: 63.5 cm (25 in.)
Classification
Sculpture
Credit Line
Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund