Examples of Indian Sculpture

In this small but compact album of sculptures preserved in the British Museum, a variety of Images have been selected by Lawrence Binyon, giving details of Buddhist and Brahmanical sculpture. The illuminating presentation of the Buddhist ideal of renunciation of all things that hamper the human spirit, the perception of the eternal cosmic harmony which was shown in the image of Shiva as the Divine Dancer, the innumerable swaying APSARA figures, loaded with jewelled ornaments, broad-hipped, narrow-waisted, powerful and graceful as panthers, the interpretation in material form of a moment midway between movement and tranquality, a pause of ecstasy and illumination, these are the forms only Indian sculpture could convey. The Buddhist sculptors of Burma, Ceylon, Java, Cambodia, Angkor, and later through China, the Japanese artists also borrowed from the exuberant Iconography of India, the poses, gestures and appropriate symbols for every image of figures they carved. Such was the mastery of the Indian sculpture and the small collection in this album is an ample proof of this. It is hoped that the book will be welcomed by the students of Indian history and art.