Indo-Portuguese Goa Carved Ivory of the Crucified Christ

Period: 1600-1700

Origin: Indo Portuguese

Medium: Ivory

Literature: A curious hybrid of Indian and European culture developed from the Portuguese take over in the 16th century of the colony of Goa in the south west of the continent. The Portuguese Jesuits commissioned religious carvings in India's land of cheap raw materials and labour and had them produced to their own cultural Christian iconography and taste. The resulting carvings of the Madonna, St Anne and Anthony, angels, Christ on the cross, as a child and as the Good Shepherd, all have very similar characteristics, such as the hair defined by grooves, but overall Indo-Portuguese Goa ivory carvings are curiously appealing and pleasing.