Page 26 - Bonhams, Indian and Himalayan Art New York July 23, 2020

828

828 829
A COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF KRISHNA, THE BUTTER THIEF A COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF PARVATI
TAMIL NADU, VIJAYANAGARA PERIOD, CIRCA 16TH CENTURY SOUTH INDIA, TAMIL NADU, VIJAYANAGARA PERIOD,
3 1/4 in. (8.3 cm) high 15TH CENTURY
15 1/2 in. (39.3 cm) high
$3,000 - 5,000
$30,000 - 50,000
The sculpture depicts Krishna as a mischievous crawling infant
absconding with a butterball in his right hand. The precious divine This bronze’s simplified treatment of the jewelry, facial type, and base
child wears a charm box hung around his chest that protects him from compare favorably with a Sri-Devi in the Ford Collection, see Pal,
evil. His hair is drawn up in a conical headdress characteristic for the Indo-Asian Art, Tokyo, 1971, no.19, and a Chandikesvara published
subject in the Vijayanagara period (14th-17th centuries). Compare in Sivaramamurti, South Indian Bronzes, New Delhi, 1963, pl.73b.
similar examples in the Norton Simon Museum (M.1977.30.10.S) and The distinctive three-tier sashes that fall down her thighs and her
the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (M.72.1.16). robust form follow conventions common in Vijayanagara sculpture,
as exemplified by a Kaliya-Krishna (Ibid., pl.83b) and a Cosmic Form
Provenance of Krishna in the Norton Simon Museum (Pal, Art from the Indian
Private Newport Beach Collection, acquired 1962 Subcontinent, Pasadena, 2003, p.275, no.199).
Private West Coast Collection since 2008
Provenance
Jaipaul Galleries, Philadelphia, 1970s
Private Philadelphia Collection, 1970s–2014
Sotheby’s, New York, 19 March 2014, lot 45
24 | BONHAMS