Page 110 - Bonhams Indian and Himalayan Art March 2016 New York

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A LARGE BLACKSTONE STELE OF KARTIKEYA
Bihar, Pala Period, 10th/11th century
Accompanied by a vidhyadhara and supported by his glorious peacock, the god of war,
couched in regalia, squats in ‘royal ease’ before an elaborate throne back.
46 1/2 in. (118.3 cm) high
$30,000 - 50,000
Despite an excellent restoration to the right side of the throne back, what survives from the
period here is a majestic stele that ranks highly within the corpus of Pala stone sculpture for
its scale and quality.
His peacock mount is rotund and shapely, the lotus petals crisp. His body is young and lithe,
predating stiffer 11th and 12th century productions often overladen with jewelry. His diadem’s
torque and side ribbons are carefully carved, and his hair modeled into a graceful chignon.
Stylistically, the stele’s size and lotus petals are nearly identical to one of Varaha from Bogra
in Bangladesh, published in Lefevre & Boussac, Chefs-d’oeuvre du delta du Gange, Paris,
2007, pp. 227-8, no. 84. The beaded torques that frame the halo and edges of the stele are
also closely related. In this respect, our Kartikeya is also akin to a stele of Manjushri from
Bihar, held in the Indian Museum, Kolkata (see the condition report for image), which shares
a closer treatment of the jeweled bands that wrap around equidistant sections of the halo’s
torque and the lotus petals that surround it. Their earrings, side ribbons, and tiger-claw
necklaces are also very similar.
Kartikeya is a truly ancient deity, described in Baudhayana’s Dharmasutra (poss. 8th/7th BCE).
But it isn’t until the great epics of the Mahabharata and Ramayana that he fully emerges as the
popular general of the devas. He is the focus of the Skanda purana, where he is the scourge of
many demons.
Provenance
Christie’s, New York, 22 March 2000, lot 21
Private American Collection

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