Woman Holding a Baby Elephant

4th-5th century
Asia: Pakistan; Asia: Afghanistan
Stucco
The Norton Simon Foundation

This bust exhibits realistic modeling and delicately rendered facial features, which are much easier to execute in stucco than in stone. Curious is the iconography of the woman holding a baby elephant: elephants symbolize virtues usually attributed to men, such as strength and virility. However, Maya, the Buddha’s mother, dreamt that a baby elephant entered her womb at the time of her son’s immaculate conception.

A Representation of Regions

In 2019, the Museum created a new map of South and Southeast Asia to better orient visitors to the geography and cultural history of the works on view. The large, colorful map highlights regions where the objects in these galleries were made, along with their current locations in South and Southeast Asia. This sculpture, Woman Holding a Baby Elephant, may have originated in the ancient trade post of Gandhara, which is shown on the map as present-day Pakistan.