Page 20 - Bonhams, Indian and Himalayan Art New York July 23, 2020
P. 20
823
A BLACKSTONE STELE WITH GAURI Compare another example of the same period sold at Bonhams,
AND BABY SADYOJATA (SHIVA) New York, 18 September 2013, lot 86 (the subject misattributed),
BIHAR, PALA-SENA PERIOD, CIRCA 11TH CENTURY and an example now in the Balurghat College Museum (Mevissen, “A
11 x 22 3/4 in. (28 x 58 cm), irregular Reclining Gauri Image with ‘Pancadikpalas’ in the Khulna Museum,
Bangladesh”, in Baumer et al. (eds.), Sahrdaya, Chennai, 2006).
$6,000 - 8,000
Provenance
Reclining on her day bed with her newborn, bejeweled Gauri enjoys a Sotheby’s, New York, 17 June 1993, lot 115
foot rub from a lady-in-waiting. The baby nursing at her breast is Lord The Estate of Benjamin M. Rice II, New York
Shiva in the form of Sadyojata. The divine mother is healthy, conveyed
by her contented smile and sensuous waist. Various offerings are laid
below, and a host diminutive deities assemble above to make this
votive image more auspicious by their presence. They are comprised
of Shiva in his aniconic form as the lingam, Shiva’s sons Ganesha
and Kartikeya, and the nine planetary bodies in Indian astronomy
(navagraha).
18 | BONHAMS
