Female Worshipper in Front of a Column Support 1st century B.C.-early 1st century A.D. India This small votive sculpture was most likely designed as the support for a Buddhist emblem, probably a chakra (spoked wheel), here symbolizing the unfolding of Buddhist law. The only other similar object in the literature is a nonfigural chakra with base found at Brahmapuri and now lost. It is known today only through drawings. Our sculpture is in the form of a standing female adorant leaning against a pillar, her hands raised to her breast in anjalimudra, the gesture of adoration. The figure is nude except for elaborate jewelry and a long diaphanous dhoti, which falls in pleats between her legs and ends, uncharacteristically, above her ankles. The pillar is ringed with raised bands at its top and behind the figure's head and hips, and is set on a low double plinth.. Female Worshipper in Front of a Column Support 38925