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Impression from a Property Seal

mid- 6th century
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
This seal impression belongs to the culture of sixth-century Gupta India. It depicts a Shaiva trident (trisula) and ax at the center, flanked by a bull under a crescent moon and the eagle Garuda. Below is an inscription in Box-Headed Brahmi, an early Indian script still favored for seals during the late Gupta period. The successors to the Guptas were Shaiva devotees, and this seal can be attributed to the immediate post-Gupta period—the mid-sixth century. The inscription, which can be read as Sivambrihaspate[n] (“property of Sivabrhaspati”), was probably a “signature seal” of a merchant of that name.

cat no. 87

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Impression from a Property Seal
  • Date: mid- 6th century
  • Culture: India, probably Bihar
  • Medium: Terracotta
  • Dimensions: Diam.1 3/4 in. (4.5 cm)
  • Classification: Sculpture
  • Credit Line: Lent by National Museum, U Thong, Suphanburi, Thailand, donated by Shin Yudee in 1978 (3/2520)
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art