Page 128 - Christie's Inidian and HImalayan Works of Art, March 2019
P. 128
689
A RARE GILT-BRONZE GROUP OF SHRIKANTHA
KAMAKALA AND GUHYAKALI
NEPAL, 17TH CENTURY
5√ in. (14.9 cm.) high
$40,000-60,000
PROVENANCE
Acquired in the Macau art market, 1996
This rare form of Shiva is known as Shrikantha, “one with the
beautiful throat.” Shrikantha stands in ardhaparyankasana (one
leg dangling), embraced by his consort Guhyakali in cosmic union
forming a kamakala, or union of creative power.
The present group is among few extant works depicting the
esoteric subject. The petite lotus petals and beaded rim of the
rectangular base suggest a late-Malla date for this uncommon
image. Compare the iconography and tantric ornaments with
another seventeenth-century example of this esoteric fgure in the
Norton Simon Museum (acc. no. M.1979.91.S).
Himalayan Art Resource (himalayanart.org), item no. 24419.
(back view)
126
