Yogini

Object Details

• Description

  Goddess seated cross-legged carved in high relief on a rounded granite slab. Goose vahana carved in light relief on base. She holds a winnower (a basketlike apparatus for separating chaff from grain), a small broom, and a skull cup in three hands, and her forth hand touches her breast in a pose signifying self-absorbtion. She wears a tall crown, one crocodilian and one cobra earring, and her hair is loose behind her head.

• Inscriptions

  On reverse of sculpture at lower right corner, in red paint (?): L68.13.31

  On reverse of sculpture at lower right corner, in red paint (?): L68.13.31

• Provenance

  Late-9th/mid-10th Century-?

  A no-longer-extant Yogini temple, Kaveripakkam, Tamil Nadu, India [1]

  By 1925-1927

  N. Tangavelou and Gabriel Jouveau-Dubreuil (1885-1945) reportedly discovered in Kanchi (also known as Kanchipuram or Kancheepuram), Tamil Nadu, India [2]

  1927-about 1950

  C.T. Loo & Company, New York, NY and Paris, France purchased from Gabriel Jouveau-Dubreuil [3]

  About 1950-?

  Christian Humann (1929-1981), New York, NY purchased from C.T. Loo & Company, NY [4]

  By 1968-1974

  Drs. Arthur M., Raymond, and Mortimer Sackler, New York, NY purchased from Christian Humann [5]

  1974-1982

  Dr. Arthur M. Sackler, New York, NY purchased from Drs. Raymond and Mortimer Sackler in 1974 [6]

  From 1987

  Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, gift of Arthur M. Sackler on September 11, 1987 [7]

  Notes:

  [1] The Yogini temple, which dates to the late-9th/mid-10th century and originally contained around a dozen sculptures of Yoginis and other deities, fell out of use sometime in the following centuries. Likely constructed of stone foundations supporting brick walls, no trace of its structure can be found on-site. See Padma Kaimal, “Scattered goddesses Travels with the Yoginis” [book] (Ann Arbor: Association for Asian Studies, Inc., 2012) and Emma Natalya Stein and Katherine E. Kasdorf, “Alternate Narratives for the Tamil Yoginis: Reconsidering the ‘Kanchi Yoginis’ Past, Present, and Future” in Religions, vol. 13 (September 2022).

  [2] Gabriel Jouveau-Dubreuil was a French-born archeologist who lived in Pondicherry, India. He worked with several Indian agents to source antiquities to export for sale in Europe. N. Tangavelou Pillai, who worked around Kanchi, was Jouveau-Dubreuil’s primary agent for Hindu antiquities. According to their correspondence, Jouveau-Dubreuil and Tangavelou discovered this sculpture along with other similar sculptures during a trip to Kanchi in August 1925. Tangavelou collected sixty signatures from individuals who consented to the removal of the sculptures. Despite ongoing objections, Tangavelou believed the majority approved of the removal and sent the sculptures to Pondicherry for export. See N. Tangavelou Pillai, “Résumé des opérations faites par M. Tangavelou pour essayer d’obtenir des antiquités pour M. Loo,” Jouveau-Dubreuil Archives, Musée Guimet, Paris.

  See alsoKaimal, p. 33-137 and Stein and Kasdorf, 17.

  [3] The dealer C. T. Loo and Jouveau-Dubreuil became acquainted in Paris between 1922 and 1923. Loo proposed that Jouveau-Dubreuil become Loo’s scout, supplier, and buying agent in India. It is likely that Loo was not Jouveau-Dubreuil’s only patron, see Kaimal, p. 137 and p. 243, note 25. Jouveau-Dubreuil and Tangavelou photographed each recovered sculpture before Jouveau-Dubreuil exported them to France; these photographs are preserved at the Musée Guimet, Paris and in the archives of the Red Pagoda, Paris. See Kaimal, p. 33-137.

  Jouveau-Dubreuil and C.T. Loo collaborated closely on the export of the sculptures. The sculptures reached Paris via several shipments, the first arriving in the fall of 1926 and the last by July 1927. The correspondence between Loo and Jouveau-Dubreuil suggests this yogini was part of a shipment in January 1926. See Emma Natalya Stein and Katherine E. Kasdorf, “Tracking the Tamil Yoginis: New Findings from the Jouveau-Dubreuil Archives” presentation during webinar “Translocation of South Asian Art: Provenance and Documentation,” October 7, 2022, power point in object file. See also Kaimal’s diagram of the sculptures mentioned in Loo and Jouveau-Dubreuil’s correspondence, p. 137.

  [4] See Kaimal, p.164.

  [5] See documentation from the Brooklyn Museum cited by Kaimal, p. 255. The Collection and Collections Information Department at the Brooklyn Museum reports that they received the object on loan in 1968 and credited the three Sackler brothers (Drs. Arthur M, Raymond, and Mortimer Sackler) with ownership. Arthur M. Sackler’s office notified the Collection and Collections Information Department at the Brooklyn Museum of his exclusive ownership in December 1974.

  [6] The 1982 inventory of Arthur M. Sackler’s gift to the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery reports Arthur M. Sackler as the owner, see 1982 inventory, copy in file.

  [7] Pursuant to the agreement between Arthur M. Sackler and the Smithsonian Institution dated July 28, 1982, legal title of the donated objects was transferred to the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery on September 11, 1987.

  Research updated on August 17, 2023.

• Collection

  Arthur M. Sackler Collection

• Exhibition History

  The Art of Knowing in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Himalayas (March 25, 2023 - ongoing)

  Gods, Companions, and Devotees (October 14, 2017 to March 13, 2020)

  Yoga: The Art of Transformation (October 19, 2013 to January 26, 2014)

  Sculpture of South Asia and the Himalayas (November 19, 1992 to July 9, 2017)

  An Exhibition of the Sculpture of Greater India (1942)

• Previous custodian or owner

  N. Thangavelu Pillai (early 20th century)

  Gabriel Jouveau-Dubreuil (French, 1885-1945)

  C. T. Loo 盧芹齋 (1880-1957)

  C.T. Loo & Company (1914-1948)

  Christian Humann (1929-1981)

  Dr. Mortimer David Sackler (1916-2010)

  Dr. Raymond Sackler (American, 1920-2017)

  Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987)

• Credit Line

  Gift of Arthur M. Sackler

• Type

  Sculpture

• On View

  Sackler Gallery 22a: The Art of Knowing in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Himalayas

• Restrictions and Rights

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  900s, 800s

• Name

  Loo, C. T., Sackler, Arthur M., Thangavelu Pillai, N., Humann, Christian, Sackler, Mortimer David, Sackler, Raymond, C.T. Loo & Company, Jouveau-Dubreuil, Gabriel

• Place

  India

• Topic

  South Asian and Himalayan Art, Art, Tantra, Chola dynasty (850 - 1280), Goose, Gods, Yogini, Yoga, Stone

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians, Hindus

• Object Type

  Sculpture

• On View

  Yes