Page 23 - CHRISTIE'S Himalayan and SOutheast Asian Works of Art 09/13/17

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, LONDON

613
A BUFF SANDSTONE FIGURE
OF GANESHA

INDIA, RAJASTHAN OR MADHYA PRADESH,
11TH CENTURY
22æ in. (58 cm) high

$30,000-40,000

印度 中央邦或拉賈斯坦邦 十一世紀 淺黃砂岩
迦尼薩像

PROVENANCE

Private collection, London, acquired by 1970.

Ganesha, the lovable and mischievous elephant-
headed god from the Hindu pantheon, is
widely revered as the Lord of Beginnings and
the Remover of Obstacles. He is worshipped
throughout India at the beginning of journeys or
undertaking of new endeavors. As such, he is often
the frst deity encountered in large, multi-sanctum
temple complexes, where he is propitiated with
a variety of oferings. His rotund belly is not only
appropriate to his pachydermic identity, but also
reinforces his powers to shower his devotes with
abundance. As a paragon of wisdom, he broke of
his own tusk and fashioned it into a pen to record
the Mahabharata at the time of its recitation by the
great sage Vyasa. The son of Shiva and Parvati,
Ganesha is one of the most popular gods in
modern India.

Deeply carved the present work depicts the six-
armed Ganesha bearing his broken tusk, an axe, a
radish and a pile of modaks (sweet oferings). The
softly rounded contours emphasize the sculpture’s
three-dimensionality, creating a naturalistic form.
The artist has skillfully carved the seated fgure
with his left foot poised on its toe, referencing
the next moment in which he will rise to dance
with joy, following in the footsteps of his father,
Shiva Nataraja.

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