Page 46 - Indian and Himalayan Art Mar 21, 2018 NYC

PROPERTY FROM A DISTINGUISHED EUROPEAN COLLECTION

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A BLACK STONE STELE OF DURGA MAHISHASURAMARDINI
NORTHEAST INDIA, PALA PERIOD, LATE 10TH/EARLY 11TH CENTURY
51Ω in. (131 cm.) high
$800,000-1,200,000
PROVENANCE
Private collection, Germany, since 1970, by repute.
Consigned to Spink & Son, London, in July 1986.
New York art market.
Acquired by the present owner from the above on 2 January 2007.

Durga puja or the festival of Durga’s victory of good over evil, is one of the The present sculpture of Mahishasuramardini is a brilliant and a very
most celebrated festivals in eastern India. In Bengal, Durga is considered important example of Brahmanical sculpture from the Pala period. Between
the daughter of every home and the festivities celebrate her return to her the eighth and the twelfth centuries, the regions of Bihar and Bengal
parents with her children, where for fve days she is adored, worshipped and (presently Bangladesh and India) were politically and culturally unifed under
celebrated. The festival marks the battle between Durga and the powerful the reign of the Pala kings. Stone sculptures from these regions are of grey or
bufalo demon Mahishasura. A pious devotee of Brahma, Mahishasura was black schist and it is believed that the grey stone originates in the Gaya region
rewarded with a boon that no man or god would be able to conquer him. of Bihar and the black and more dense stone is found primarily in the eastern
Thus invincible, he battled the gods and took over the heavens. The gods Bihar and Bengal.
appealed to the goddess Parvati, who agreed to harness the shakti of all
female celestial beings and create Durga, who is bestowed with all the The origin of the Pala school of sculpture can be traced to various stylistic
weapons from the gods and a lion for her vehicle. After nine days of battle, sources, including Mathura-Kusana prototypes from the early centuries of
Durga vanquished Mahishasura and his army and restored the heavens to the Common Era to the late ffth century Gupta idiom of Sarnath and related
the gods. sites. Some of the earliest known depictions of Mahishasuramardini are small
stone images from Mathura where the goddess is seen killing the bufalo
The worship of a mother goddess as the source of life and fertility has demon or standing peacefully with sun and moon on either side, indicating
ancient roots, but the text Devi Mahatmya (Glory of the Goddess), composed her presiding over day and night. Other earlier examples are from the entrance
during the ffth and sixth centuries, led to the dramatic transformation of to caves 6 and 17 at Udayagiri in Madhya Pradesh from the fourth to ffth
the female principle into a goddess of great cosmic power. Later, textual centuries and from Aphsad in the seventh century. According to Claudine
sources generally refer to this form of Durga as Mahishasuramardini. She Buatze-Picron in her discussion on the Hindu images from this region, “As a
remains the most important and popular form of the goddess, also referred close study of some of the forms reveals, the [iconographiy] was not for once
to as Devi or Shakti. and ever fxed but underwent transformations in the course of time; starting

A large and important black stone fgure of Lokanatha Goddess Durga Slaying the Demon Mahisha. Eastern Claudine Bautze-Picron and Gouriswar Bhattacharya.
Avalokiteshvara, Northeastern India, Pala Period, India, Bihar, probably Gaya district. Second half of the The Art of Eastern India: In the Collection of the
12th century, sold at Christie’s New York, 15 March 2017, 9th century. Schist. H. incl. base 42 1/2 in. (108 cm); Museum Für Indische Kunst, Berlin: Stone &
lot 233, for $24,663,500. H. 39 in. (99.1 cm); W. 21 in. (53.3 cm); D. 7 in. (17.8 cm). Terracotta Sculptures, D. Reimer, 1998, p. 246, pl. 254.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, Blanca and
Sunil Hirani Gift, in honor of Sunita and Gordhan Hirani,
2016 (2016.650).
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