Carved wood

India 18th century

Dimensions: Height 79 cm Wide 47 cm Depth 8 cm

Weight: 6659 grams

This ornamental archway shows a grand composition of animals and ornaments.

Two soaring lions are standing on their hindlegs on the sides.

On their heads we see two smaller elephants raising their trunks in the air in devotion,

forming the beginning of the arch which is designed with floral sprays and ornamental bands.

The center of the arch is filled with a five-headed snake coiling its body in a lying figure eight and flanked by two parrots.

The top of the lintel is headed by a kirtimukha, a monstrosity head that signifies the reabsorption that marks the entry into a sacred space.

The back of the wooden piece is even with a small noose at the top.