Plaque with Vishnu
c. 600s
- Medium
- gold repoussé
- Classification
- Metalwork
- Dimensions
- Overall: 7.6 x 4.5 cm (3 x 1 3/4 in.)
- Culture
- Thailand, Sri Deb Style, Mon-Dvaravati period, c. 7th-8th Century
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Indian and Southeast Asian Art
- Credit line
- John L. Severance Fund
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
Images made in India during the Gupta period (AD 300s to 600s) were influential in shaping the early development of Buddhist and Hindu art in Southeast Asia. This gold token depicts the Hindu god Vishnu, identified by the flat-topped crown, his four arms, and attributes: wheel, conch shell, club, and clod of earth. Noteworthy for its naturalism is the foreshortening of his right foot. Such precious gold objects were made to be secreted under a sacred stone icon in Thailand or Cambodia to infuse the temple with wealth and glory.
