Page 78 - 2020 Sept 22 Himalayin and Indian Works of Art Sotheby's NYC Asia Week

9/2/2020 Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Works of Art | Sotheby's

Indian, Hi ma layan & Southeast Asian Works of Art
New York |22 Sep 2020 | 12:00 PM EDT

Lot 356

A GRANITE FIGURE OF A DEITY PO SSIBLY VIRABHADRA SOUTH INDIA , 16TH/17TH CENTUR Y
Estimate: 30,000 - 50,000 USD

PROPERTY OF A NEW YORK COLLECTOR
A GRANITE FIGURE OF A DEITY POSSIBLY VIRABHADRA SOUTH INDIA, 16TH/17TH CENTURY

Height 30 ⅜ in. (77.2 cm)

the ferocious aspect of Shiva standing in a threatening attitude and holding attributes in his ten arms including a shield, rattle
drum, trident, and snake and wearing a short dhoti, garland of skulls, meditation cord, triple-collar suspending a central quatrefoil
amulet, and cape around his shoulders, his face with fierce expression, fangs bared, bulging round eyes, and arched eyebrows in
relief, a nimbus carved with lotus buds and rosettes behind his head

Provenance
Mildred Kemper Art Museum, 1968
Sotheby's New York September, 24, 1997, lot 383

Catalogue Note
Virabhadra is revered as a fierce warrior-like emanation of Lord Shiva. According to legend, Daksha, the son of Brahma, excluded
the mendicant Shiva, husband of his youngest daughter Sati, from an important sacrificial ritual. When Shiva arrived at the
gathering regardless, to occupy his rightful place as Daksha’s son-in-law, he was insulted by the latter. Out of despair at this
humiliation, the devoted Sati threw herself into the sacred ceremonial fire. Shiva in his grief and rage took revenge by manifesting
as a fierce warrior god – Virabhadra – and leading his army to destroy Daksha and his sacrifice.

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