Page 24 - CHRISTIE'S Himalayan and SOutheast Asian Works of Art 09/13/17

PROPERTY FROM A DISTINGUISHED NEW YORK COLLECTION

614
A BLACK STONE STELE OF UMAMAHESHVARA

INDIA, GUJARAT, 11TH CENTURY
18º in. (46.4 cm.) high
$30,000-50,000
印度 東北部 帕拉時期 十一世紀 黑石烏瑪與大自在天碑

PROVENANCE

with William H. Wolf, New York.
Acquired by the family of the present owner from the above, 11 February 1970.

Beautifully carved in deep relief, Shiva sits atop his faithful bull with his
beloved Parvati in his lap. He holds a trident in his upper right hand and a
cobra in his left. His lower right fngers delicately hold a lotus blossom, while
his lower left hand gently cups his wife’s breast. Parvati wraps her right arm
around his shoulders and holds a mirror in her left hand, while her pendant leg
rests on the bull’s rump. Their feshy bodies are clothed in striated dhotis and
adorned with elaborate jewelry. Their plump faces with gentle smiles express
their tenderness toward one another. Their elaborately braided coifures
are secured with jeweled tiaras. The loving couple are fanked by numerous
fgures, including their sons Ganesha, standing at bottom right, and Skanda at
left. Brahma and Vishnu sit on either side of the lotiform halo, above.
Compare the present work with a ninth century Almoran stone sculpture of
Umamaheshvara in the Victoria and Albert Museum (IS.113-1986). Carved
from two diferent types of stone – the V&A example from a grey-green stone
and the present work from a black schist - both sculptures are rendered in
very deep relief with rounded thickly modeled fgures. While the bull in the
V&A work is depicted diminutively at the god’s foot, he is fully manifest as the
couple’s mount in the present sculpture.

22