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Kamadeva ('Camadeva' was the spelling Sir John Soane used), the Hindu god of love, prepares to fire one of his flower-tipped arrows of desire from his sugarcane bow, strung with honey bees, as his wife Rati, the goddess of passion, advises him on his choice of target. Kamadeva is usually shown riding a peacock or parrot but his banner is a Makara which is a crocodile-like mythical creature and Banks may have chosen a crocodile as a more sculptural support. Consultation with the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2017 suggested that the female figure could be the embodiment of Vasanta, or Spring. Spring is one of the attributes of Kama – his festival is Holi, which marks the coming of spring. The title of the sculpture is taken from the catalogue of Banks’s studio sale of 1805 (lots 66, 67 and 68), which records, in plaster, the mould and a cast.
Sir John Soane’s Museum
London
Title
The Hindu Deity Camadeva with His Mistress on a Crocodile
Date
c.1792
Medium
painted plaster
Measurements
H 61 x W 63.5 x D (?) cm
Accession number
A12
Acquisition method
acquired by Sir John Soane, before 1837
Work type
Statue
Sir John Soane’s Museum
13 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London, Greater London WC2A 3BP England
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