Page 17 - Christies Indian and Himalayan Art Sept 2015

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A PINK SANDSTONE FIGURE OF
JINA PARSHAVANATHA
INDIA, UTTAR PRADESH, 8TH CENTURY

Finely carved with the Jina in kayotsarga,
his body in a smooth rounded form backed
by a seven-headed naga hood, fanked by
additional nagas bearing offerings and two
attendants, below
62 in. (157.5 cm.) high

$150,000-250,000

PROVENANCE:

Acquired by 1999, New York

EXHIBITED:

Important Asian Art, International Asian Art
Fair, the Seventh Regiment Armory, New
York, 24-29 March 2000

PUBLISHED:

The Chinese Porcelain Company, Important
Asian Art, 2000, pp.46-49, fg.13

Jainism is propagated through the stories of
twenty-four tirthankaras, fgures who have
conquered samsara (the cycle of death and
rebirth), and provide others a bridge to follow
them to moksha (liberation). Tirthankaras
are often depicted as an ideal yogi in a
seated posture or kayotsarga (standing body-
abandonment pose), as in the present example.
They also often have a srivatsa mark on their
chest, perhaps to distinguish them from similar
images of Buddha.

Parshavanatha is the 23rd tirthankara and is the
earliest Jain leader for whom there is evidence
of having been a historical fgure (c.877-777
BC). He belongs to the Digambara, or “sky-
clad” sect of Jainism, with only the serpent king
Dharana to shield his body from the elements.
Several Jain texts describe when Parshavanatha
was attacked by a demon during meditation,
Dharana covered the Jina with his own coiled
body and made a parasol from the hood of his
seven heads. The present sculpture is a superbly
executed example of this iconic fgure of Jainism.

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