Page 166 - Himalayan Art Macrh 19 2018 Bonhams

3074
A COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF PARVATI
TAMIL NADU, CHOLA PERIOD, CIRCA 12TH CENTURY
24 3/4 in. (61.2 cm) high

$500,000 - 700,000
It is as if this large and exceptional Chola bronze has brought Kalidasa’s 4th-5th century
poetic vision of Parvati to life. Her legs are at once strong, healthy, soft, and limber, clad
in a patterned sheer garment. She steps forward with a contrapposto that exaggerates
her hips, giving rise to a slender waist and full breasts. Her rear is pert and firm. She is
a divine mate, perfectly exemplifying the breathtaking union of sensuality and divinity
for which Chola sculpture is so revered, “intended as both exceptional artistic creations
and as a means through which to transmit the essence of the divine.” (Natalya Stein in
Sotheby’s, New York, 15 March 2017, lot 255). The elegant fingers of her upraised right
hand are rubbed smooth from her ritual life and received ablutions.

Worshipped as living entities during the ritual cycle, processional bronzes, such as the
present lot, are paraded during numerous festivals in South India. The holes in the front of
the base allowed for the bronze to be stabilized on a wooden platform and the projecting
mortises at the back would have supported the tenons of a separately cast aureole.

Following the schema of dating according to ornament, devised by Sivaramamurti, this
remarkable sculpture exhibits the hallmarks of the mature Chola style of the 12th and
13th centuries. Note her ensemble of layered semi-circular kanthi necklaces, stacked one
atop one another, with the central band having “the shape of several tiny mangoes strung
together” - a fashion emerging by the 11th century (South Indian Bronzes, New Delhi,
1963, p.31).

Further evidence of its dating is seen in the sirischakra projecting at the back of the
head, above an abundance of jatas (hair curls) in a close semi-circular form that fan out
across her neck. The tassels over the arches of her ears and fully formed makara earrings
also indicate the mature Chola style. Following the conventions of the period, the artist
has conveyed great fluidity in the arrangement of her lower garment. The karisutra and
mekhala clasp sits within the inversion from the stomach to the pubis and the lower sash
plunging in a deep ‘U’ form between her legs, supporting beaded swags that hug her
upper thighs and hips.

Compare with other examples of the goddess formerly in the Belmont Collection sold
at Sotheby’s, London, 7 December 1971, lot 67 and also one in the Rietberg Museum,
Indian Sculptures in the von der Heydt Collection, Zurich, 1964, pl.45a,b. Also see
a further closely related examples in Codrington (et al.), The Art of India & Pakistan,
London, 1950, pl.57, no.322.

Provenance
Sotheby’s, London, 11 December 1973, lot 162
Oriental Antiquities Ltd, London
Sotheby’s, London, 23 November 1987, lot 93
Private Collection, Los Angeles

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