Page 55 - 2021 March 16th Indian, Himalayan and Tibetan Art, Bonhams NYC New York

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A SANDSTONE HEAD OF SHIVA
CENTRAL INDIA, CIRCA 11TH CENTURY
8 3/4 in. (22.1 cm) high
$10,000 - 15,000

This handsome head of Shiva is finely carved with fleshy
cheeks, almond-shaped eyes, high-arching brows, and a
petaled halo. He wears an elaborate diadem with suspended
pearl swags and a central kirtimukha around his coiffure of
tight curls.

Compare with a related head of a tirthankara that has similar
eyes and arched brows in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
(Harle & Topsfield, Indian Art, Oxford, 1987, p.45, fig.53). Also
see another example of similar size preserved in the Walters
Art Museum, Baltimore (25.262).

Provenance
Sotheby’s, London, 8 May 1997, lot 19
Sotheby’s, New York, 24 March 2004, lot 22
Private Collection, California

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