Page 18 - Christies Indian and Himalayan Art Sept 2015

68
AN IMPORTANT BRONZE FIGURE OF PARVATI
SOUTH INDIA, CHOLA PERIOD, 12TH CENTURY

Standing in slight tribhanga on a lotus over a
base with her right hand raised in katakamudra,
wearing a dhoti with the end swinging between
her legs, a broad belt centered by a kirttimukha
mask, adorned with the sacred thread, multiple
necklaces and armlets, her face with a graceful
expression and her hair in a tiered conical
karandamukuta backed by a sunburst halo, with
a rich deep brown patina overall
25Ω in. (64.8 cm) high

$300,000-400,000

PROVENANCE:

Collection of Dr. J.R. Belmont,
Basel, Switzerland
Collection of Samuel Eilenberg, New York,
by repute
Collection of Alice Boney, New York,
acquired from above by repute
Sotheby’s London, 27 February 1967, lot 125
Sotheby’s New York, 2 June 1992, lot 86

During the Chola rule in South India from the 9th
to the 13th century, bronze sculpture excelled
under royal patronage. Figures of Parvati from this
period are particularly sensuous and commanding,
functioning as a medium through which one can
engage in darshan, the mutually empowering
exchange of gazes between humans and the divine
that only occurred during the public processions
of Brahmanical ritual practice. Bronze sculptures
would be bathed and elaborately adorned before
being carried into the procession, and while they
would be dressed to cover all but their faces, they
would be cast with utmost attention to detail and
naturalistic forms. The fgures display an idealized
naturalism that is at once blissful and restrained,
giving boldness and elegance to the female form.

This Parvati is reminiscent of the example in the
British Royal Collection (V. Dehejia, et al., Chola:
Sacred Bronzes of Southern India, 2006, p.24,
fg.14) for its proportions, with sloping shoulders
and a small waist beneath the breasts that boldly
curves into the hips. Both fgures have a gentle
smile which, in the present example, augments the
otherworldly beauty that emanates from the rich,
polished patina created from the passage of time.
The jewelry and stylized tiered karandamukuta
are similar to that of the Uma in the Somaskanda
group from the Worcester Art Museum (V. Dehejia,
The Sensuous and the Sacred: Chola Bronzes from
South India, 2002, p.123, fg.12). The present
Parvati, who likely would have accompanied a
fgure of Shiva in procession, exudes elegance
through her robust curves and sensuous surface.

16