Head of Jina (c. 150–75 CE): Art, History and Details

Head of Jina (c. 150–75 CE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The short rows of hair show the new growth after this figure pulled out every lock by hand. Such a radical act demonstrated renunciation from a society that dictated the wearing of long hair to be covered by a turban. Since there is no protrusion at the top of the head, he can be recognized as a Jina, rather than a Buddha or other holy man. His slight smile and placid alert gaze communicate the power, bliss, and wisdom of one who has reached a state of pure knowing and liberation from delusions.

Object facts

• Title: Head of Jina
• Date: c. 150–75 CE
• Culture: India, Mathura, Kushan period
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: red mottled sandstone
• Dimensions: Overall: 21.6 x 18.3 cm (8 1/2 x 7 3/16 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art - Kushan, Mathura
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 1962.47

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Lee, Sherman E. “Year in Review 1962.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 49, no. 9, 1962, pp. 199–227.
• Czuma, Stanislaw. “Mathura Sculpture in the Cleveland Museum Collection.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 64, no. 3, 1977, pp. 83–114.
• Czuma, Stanislaw J., and Rekha Morris. Kushan Sculpture: Images from Early India. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1985.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.