1903.11.0359 :: kam
- Object description
The most beautiful object is perhaps the upper part of a comb, in whose fretwork top there are carved two seated figures... All the teeth of the comb are broken away. The figures are framed in a circle with a carvec row of pearls, which is found on both sides of the comb. Both the figures, which represent a man and a woman, support one knee against the circle. The man's left arm encircles the woman's shoulders, his right hand holds heres, which is resting on his knee. I know of no corresponding figural representation from the Khotan district, but if we turn to the Gandhara art parallells are easily found. It would appear beyond doubt that we are here confronted with an offshoot of the "tutelary pair" whose mythological significance and evolution in the history of art were discussed by Foucher. (ref. 1905/22 p.142 ff, 1917, pp.139-146). The god of wealth and the goddess of fecundity and plenteousness have been united in a symbol of happiness and conjugal fidelity. It is the demigod Pancika, ruler and general of yakshas, and his consort Hariti, that has developed into a patron and author of numerous progeny, originally having been a child-devouring demon. It is extremely interesting to note how this repreesntation recurs with different contents of ideas throughout the whole Graeco-Roman world...
The find from Khotan here described is another step eastwards and northwards in the migration of the motif, and in present-day lama images of gods it should be possible to trace offshoots. Montell 1938, p. 97 ff.
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