Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Section of a Floor Mosaic Depicting the Four Seasons Roman (Antioch, Roman province of Syria), 2nd-3rd century A.D. Stone and glass tesserae 70 by 62 inches/spring, 70 by 47 1/2 inches/summer, 70 by 42 inches/autumn, 70 by 52 1/2 inches/winter Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Purchase, The Adolph D. and Wilkins C. Williams Fund, 51.13. text from: www.vmfa.state.va.us/collections/51_13.html

Section of a Floor Mosaic Depicting the Four Seasons Roman (Antioch, Roman province of Syria), 2nd-3rd century A.D. Stone and glass tesserae 70 by 62 inches/spring, 70 by 47 1/2 inches/summer, 70 by 42 inches/autumn, 70 by 52 1/2 inches/winter Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Purchase, The Adolph D. and Wilkins C. Williams Fund, 51.13. text from: www.vmfa.state.va.us/collections/51_13.html

Section of a Floor Mosaic Depicting the Four Seasons Roman (Antioch, Roman province of Syria), 2nd-3rd century A.D. Stone and glass tesserae 70 by 62 inches/spring, 70 by 47 1/2 inches/summer, 70 by 42 inches/autumn, 70 by 52 1/2 inches/winter Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Purchase, The Adolph D. and Wilkins C. Williams Fund, 51.13. text from: www.vmfa.state.va.us/collections/51_13.html

Surya (Primary Title) Unknown (Artist) Date: 19th century Culture: Indian Category: Sculpture Medium: honey-colored sandstone with traces of pigment Collection: South Asian Art Geography: Rajasthan, India Dimensions: Overall: 26 1/4 × 37 1/2 × 7 1/2 in. (66.68 × 95.25 × 19.05 cm) Overall (with stand): 32 × 37 1/2 × 7 1/2 in. (81.28 × 95.25 × 19.05 cm) Object Number: 96.34 This charming sandstone relief depicts the Hindu sun god Surya riding in his celestial chariot. He is pulled through the sky by seven horses, representing the days of the week, and dynamically rendered as a receding arc of heads emerging from a single body. Driving these horses and preceding Surya's appearance is his charioteer Aruna, a Sanskrit word meaning the color of the rising sun. More pictorial than many images of Indian deities, this relief may have once formed part of a longer narrative. Even in his bubble of fiery rays, the sun god is presented here less as a remote cosmic deity than as a local leader who might one day ride through an ordinary Indian village. Text from: www.vmfa.museum/piction/6027262-108579554

Jina, probably Shreyamsanatha (Primary Title) Unknown (Artist) Date: 1160 Culture: Indian Category: Sculpture Medium: white marble with traces of pigment Collection: South Asian Art Geography: probably vicinity of Mount Abu, Rajasthan, India Dimensions: Overall: 23 5/8 × 19 1/8 × 10 in. (60.01 × 48.58 × 25.4 cm) Object Number: 2000.98 Serenely seated in mediation, this figure is a Jina, or Tirthankara, one of the great teachers and exemplars of the Jain faith. An inscription on his elegantly decorated cushion seems to name him as Shreyamsanatha, the eleventh of the twenty-four Tirthankaras. It also gives the date the sculpture was made and names the merchant and clergyman who commissioned and installed the image. With a triangular torso, cylindrical limbs, and spherical head, the figure’s body is abstracted into almost pure geometrical shapes. Lotus medallions on his large hands and feet are auspicious marks indicating his exceptional status. A strip of cloth that emerges near his feet shows that he is not entirely nude, but meagerly clad in the manner of an ascetic. Traces of color indicate that the sculpture was one wholly or partially painted. Text from: www.vmfa.museum/piction/6027262-177442064

Jina, probably Shreyamsanatha (Primary Title) Unknown (Artist) Date: 1160 Culture: Indian Category: Sculpture Medium: white marble with traces of pigment Collection: South Asian Art Geography: probably vicinity of Mount Abu, Rajasthan, India Dimensions: Overall: 23 5/8 × 19 1/8 × 10 in. (60.01 × 48.58 × 25.4 cm) Object Number: 2000.98 Serenely seated in mediation, this figure is a Jina, or Tirthankara, one of the great teachers and exemplars of the Jain faith. An inscription on his elegantly decorated cushion seems to name him as Shreyamsanatha, the eleventh of the twenty-four Tirthankaras. It also gives the date the sculpture was made and names the merchant and clergyman who commissioned and installed the image. With a triangular torso, cylindrical limbs, and spherical head, the figure’s body is abstracted into almost pure geometrical shapes. Lotus medallions on his large hands and feet are auspicious marks indicating his exceptional status. A strip of cloth that emerges near his feet shows that he is not entirely nude, but meagerly clad in the manner of an ascetic. Traces of color indicate that the sculpture was one wholly or partially painted. Text from: www.vmfa.museum/piction/6027262-177442064

Surya (Primary Title) Unknown (Artist) Date: 19th century Culture: Indian Category: Sculpture Medium: honey-colored sandstone with traces of pigment Collection: South Asian Art Geography: Rajasthan, India Dimensions: Overall: 26 1/4 × 37 1/2 × 7 1/2 in. (66.68 × 95.25 × 19.05 cm) Overall (with stand): 32 × 37 1/2 × 7 1/2 in. (81.28 × 95.25 × 19.05 cm) Object Number: 96.34 This charming sandstone relief depicts the Hindu sun god Surya riding in his celestial chariot. He is pulled through the sky by seven horses, representing the days of the week, and dynamically rendered as a receding arc of heads emerging from a single body. Driving these horses and preceding Surya's appearance is his charioteer Aruna, a Sanskrit word meaning the color of the rising sun. More pictorial than many images of Indian deities, this relief may have once formed part of a longer narrative. Even in his bubble of fiery rays, the sun god is presented here less as a remote cosmic deity than as a local leader who might one day ride through an ordinary Indian village. Text from: www.vmfa.museum/piction/6027262-108579554

Large Apothecary Bottle (Primary Title) 江戶時代 有田 伊萬里染付大瓶 (Primary Title) Unknown (Artist) Date: 1660 - 1680 Culture: Japanese Category: Ceramics Containers-Vessels Medium: Arita ware; porcelain with underglaze blue decoration Collection: East Asian Art Geography: Arita, Japan Dimensions: Overall: 19 1/2 × 13 1/2 in. (49.53 × 34.29 cm) Object Number: 72.36 The four panels of this apothecary bottle are decorated with the motifs of peonies and myna birds, a design derived from a Chinese prototype in Jingdezhen. This bottle, whose lid is lost, was made at a kiln in Arita, Japan by the order of the Dutch East India Company for the Portuguese market. Text from: www.vmfa.museum/piction/6027262-8094776

Large Apothecary Bottle (Primary Title) 江戶時代 有田 伊萬里染付大瓶 (Primary Title) Unknown (Artist) Date: 1660 - 1680 Culture: Japanese Category: Ceramics Containers-Vessels Medium: Arita ware; porcelain with underglaze blue decoration Collection: East Asian Art Geography: Arita, Japan Dimensions: Overall: 19 1/2 × 13 1/2 in. (49.53 × 34.29 cm) Object Number: 72.36 The four panels of this apothecary bottle are decorated with the motifs of peonies and myna birds, a design derived from a Chinese prototype in Jingdezhen. This bottle, whose lid is lost, was made at a kiln in Arita, Japan by the order of the Dutch East India Company for the Portuguese market. Text from: www.vmfa.museum/piction/6027262-8094776

Pitcher with Designs of Male's Head and Roosters (Primary Title) 清乾隆 景德鎮窯粉彩人面大吉執壺 (Primary Title) Unknown (Artist) Date: 1735 - 1745 Culture: Chinese Category: Ceramics Medium: Porcelain with overglaze polychrome (Famille rose) enamels Collection: East Asian Art Geography: China Dimensions: Overall: 13 3/4 × 8 in. (34.93 × 20.32 cm) Object Number: 79.113 This pitcher is a rare example of Europe's fascination with Eastern cultures. At the spout, an image of a male wearing a coiled turban and a well-trimmed beard looks down at a rooster, a symbol of good fortune, standing amid flowers and rocks. The images were painted with famille rose enamels, a European technique that allows a broad array of colors and tones to depict intricate details. Text from: www.vmfa.museum/piction/6027262-8112067

Pitcher with Designs of Male's Head and Roosters (Primary Title) 清乾隆 景德鎮窯粉彩人面大吉執壺 (Primary Title) Unknown (Artist) Date: 1735 - 1745 Culture: Chinese Category: Ceramics Medium: Porcelain with overglaze polychrome (Famille rose) enamels Collection: East Asian Art Geography: China Dimensions: Overall: 13 3/4 × 8 in. (34.93 × 20.32 cm) Object Number: 79.113 This pitcher is a rare example of Europe's fascination with Eastern cultures. At the spout, an image of a male wearing a coiled turban and a well-trimmed beard looks down at a rooster, a symbol of good fortune, standing amid flowers and rocks. The images were painted with famille rose enamels, a European technique that allows a broad array of colors and tones to depict intricate details. Text from: www.vmfa.museum/piction/6027262-8112067

Figurine (Primary Title) Unknown (Artist) Date: 200 - 750 Culture: Teotihuacan Category: Sculpture Medium: terracotta, traces of red, white and turquoise pigment Collection: Pre-Columbian Art Geography: Teotihuacan, Mexico Dimensions: Overall: 9 1/2 × 4 1/4 × 1 3/8 in. (24.13 × 10.8 × 3.49 cm) Object Number: 2014.401 Text from: www.vmfa.museum/piction/6027262-49933742

Figurine (Primary Title) Unknown (Artist) Date: 200 - 750 Culture: Teotihuacan Category: Sculpture Medium: terracotta, traces of red, white and turquoise pigment Collection: Pre-Columbian Art Geography: Teotihuacan, Mexico Dimensions: Overall: 9 1/2 × 4 1/4 × 1 3/8 in. (24.13 × 10.8 × 3.49 cm) Object Number: 2014.401 Text from: www.vmfa.museum/piction/6027262-49933742

Coca Pouch (Primary Title) Unknown (Artist) Date: 100 BC-AD 200 Culture: Nazca Category: Textiles Containers Medium: wool Collection: Pre-Columbian Art Geography: Nazca, Peru Dimensions: Overall: 11 1/2 × 10 × 1 in. (29.21 × 25.4 × 2.54 cm) Object Number: 2018.267 Text from: www.vmfa.museum/piction/6027262-155843033

Coca Pouch (Primary Title) Unknown (Artist) Date: 100 BC-AD 200 Culture: Nazca Category: Textiles Containers Medium: wool Collection: Pre-Columbian Art Geography: Nazca, Peru Dimensions: Overall: 11 1/2 × 10 × 1 in. (29.21 × 25.4 × 2.54 cm) Object Number: 2018.267 Text from: www.vmfa.museum/piction/6027262-155843033

Mummy Mask of a Woman (Primary Title) Unknown (Artist) Date: ca. 130 Culture: Egyptian Category: Sculpture Medium: Plaster, glass, pigment Collection: Ancient Art Dimensions: Overall: 5 3/4 × 6 1/2 × 7 3/4 in. (14.61 × 16.51 × 19.69 cm) Object Number: 2014.187 This beautiful, evocative face is not a true portrait but cast from a mold and individualized with glass eyes and pigment (which even highlights her eyebrows, eyelashes, and nostrils!). The head was originally attached to a mummy board placed over the deceased, an Egyptian tradition dating to the First Intermediate Period (ca. 2000 BC), but the hairstyle dates this example to the reign of Emperor Hadrian (117–138), when Egyptian-grown grain fed the Roman Empire. Text from: www.vmfa.museum/piction/6027262-12999910