Page 26 - 2019 September 11th Christie's New York Chiense Art Himalayan bronzes and art

THE PROPERTY OF DOROTHY AND RICHARD SHERWOOD

306
A BLACK STONE STELE OF NARASIMHA
INDIA, ORISSA, 12TH-13TH CENTURY
21¿ in. (53.6 cm.) high

$40,000-60,000

PROVENANCE
Sotheby’s New York, 2 June 1992, lot 288.
This dynamic and powerful stele captures the moment when the Hindu god,
Vishnu reveals himself in the guise of his ferocious half-lion, half-man form,
known as Narasimha, to vanquish the asura king, Hiranyakashipu. After his
brother, Hiranyaksha, was killed by the Vishnu’s boar-form avatar, Varaha,
Hiranyakashipu decided to seek vengeance and kill Vishnu. In order to achieve
powers capable of defeating the god, Hiranyakashipu performed penance to
the chief god, Brahma. Pleased by his worship, Brahma grants Hiranyakashipu
the boon of his choice: that he cannot be killed by man or animal, that he
cannot be killed inside or outside, day or night, on the ground or in the sky,
by weapons animate or inanimate. With such a boon, Hiranyakashipu gains
immeasurable power, and an accompanying sense of pride and arrogance.
To Hiranyakashipu’s dismay, however, his son Prahlad is a devoted follower of
Vishnu and Hiranyakashipu grows so angry that he decides to strike down his
son. As he moves to kill him, Vishnu, in the form of Narasimha, emerges from
a pillar and destroys Hiranyakashipu. Although the present stele lacks the
representation of the pillar, it depicts the fateful moment at dusk (neither day
nor night) when Narasimha (neither man nor animal) emerges from the pillar
(neither inside nor outside), props the asura king up on his knee (neither on the
ground nor in the sky), and disembowels him with his claws (weapons neither
animate nor inanimate). The figure on all fours and supporting Narasimha’s
foot is likely Hiranyakashipu’s son, Prahlad. As such, the story of Narasimha is
a gruesome but instructive parable about arrogance and hubris.

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