Throne Leg

Carved ivory components for furniture were commonly used in eastern India, and this example is one of a set of four, now dispersed, which display a rearing mythical lion, in each case formalized and mannered with its head slightly turned in a contorted posture. The lion is a typical motif for the throne of divinity and symbol of royal divinity, with a long beaked nose, deeply carved toothy grin and flared nostrils and cascading ringlets of his mane.

An inscription on the Jaganatha Temple at the seacoast town of Puri during the reign of King Purushottamdeva (1467–97) records the gift of eight sets of cared ivory thrones to the King's personal deity. Examples of Orissan throne legs can be dated on stylistic grounds to the thirteenth through the seventeenth centuries. Enormous strength is conveyed in the distorted proportions of the lion, enhanced by a minutely detailed hunting scene set in a compressed imaginary landscape with animals emerging from a rocky mountain on the reverse.