Page 60 - 2019 September 11th Christie's New York Chiense Art Himalayan bronzes and art

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE NEW YORK CITY COLLECTION
324
A BRONZE FIGURE OF YOGA NARASIMHA
NORTH INDIA, KASHMIR OR CHAMBA,
10TH-11TH CENTURY
6¡ in. (16.2 cm.) high

$12,000-18,000

PROVENANCE
Acquired privately by 1983, by repute.
The present sculpture, likely from the hill-town of
Chamba within Himachal Pradesh and dated from the
tenth or eleventh centuries, is stylistically comparable to
contemporaneous sculpture of Kashmir, unsurprising
given the proximity of the Chamba to the Vale of
Kashmir, as well as the political connections between
the two regions. Some stylistic and iconographical
characteristics, however, do diferentiate between
works from Chamba and Kashmir. The conjoined
aureole of Chamba bronzes, for instance, is usually
fat and unadorned, in contrast to those of Kashmir,
which are often incised with fames. The streamers or
ribbons that extend from either side of the torso are
also commonly found in Chamba bronzes, and less so
in those of Kashmir.

The present fgure depicts the lion-faced form of
Vishnu, Yoga Narasimha in a contemplative posture,
sitting cross-legged on a rectangular plinth. He holds
the attributes of Vishnu, including the mace and
chakra in the upper hands and a conch in his lower
proper left hand. His tripartite crown, typical for
Chamba and Kashmiri sculpture from this period, is
surmounted by a blossoming lotus.

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