The exhibition poster
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The exhibition poster
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The (West Bengal) State Archeological Museum (situated at 1, Satyen Roy Road, Behala, Kolkata - 700 034) recently organized an exhibition titled Exhibition on the life and art of Chandraketugarh during February 9-24, 2001. The exhibition consisted of the museum's own collection with a large portion coming from the personal collection of Prabir Kumar Goswami of Uttarpara. It was really a great experience to visit this exhibition with its sheer volume of materials. The art objects were carefully categorized under several different themes and very tastefully displayed. The visitor immediately notices the extreme precision and detail with which these objects, especially the terracottas, were executed. In addition to the technical sophistication, the beauty of these objects, especially given that the artist was constrained by the small sized format of the terracottas, don't go unnoticed. When you look at the photographs below, try to observe them through the eye of an investigator and see if you can learn about the society and culture of that time. |
Shree, the goddess of wealth and fortune |
Female figure with asymmetrical headgear and a feather attached to it |
Panchachuda, female figure with hair decoration |
Mithuna scene |
Mithuna scene |
Mold of a Panchachuda |
Lower part of a girdled female figure, could be a divine, semi-divine being such as Shree or panchachuda. |
Various pottery fragments with decorations |
Panchacuda with dwarf female attendant holding a mirror, a common theme |
Winged female figure standing on a lotus and in a lotus pond (this could be a form of Shree or a syncretic deity figure that assimilates elements from Shree and winged figures) |
Female figure with dwarf female attendant carrying a tray on her head |
Rattle created with double moulds and representing a yaksha with fierce statement |
Beautiful fragment of a plaque depicting a harvesting scene. A similar theme was found in Tamluk or Tamralipta |
Wheeled figure, conceived and executed in the round, representing a winged elephant (proto-ganesha?) with lotus stalks in its trunk |
Elephant with raised trunk, conceived in the round, possibly a votive object meant to guard the village from calamities, a practice quite common even today |
Ambarish Goswami
Last Revised June 21, 2001