Indian Temple Fragment with Feline Motif, Based

Cream-colored beast peers around a blue lattice, as if checking who's coming.

This temple fragment with feline motif is Jain, from Bhojpur, Kutch District, India, and dates to the mid 19th century. It is carved & painted stone. Paintings called Lokapurusha, or Cosmic Man, show separate worlds for liberated, celestial and mortal beings, along with a multi-tiered hell, all arranged within the figure of the universe. Carved block on a wood base with stepped blue openwork on one face and rough tan stone behind. A cream-colored four-legged animal with a black-lined face stands at the right edge of the block. It is 19.5 inches wide, 12 deep and 15 high.

Curious, creamy, and rather good at perching.