Page 61 - 2019 September 11th Christie's New York Chiense Art Himalayan bronzes and art

THE PROPERTY OF A DISTINGUISHED GENTLEMAN
325
A RARE BRONZE FIGURE OF HARIHARA
SOUTH INDIA, PALLAVA PERIOD, 9TH
CENTURY
6¿ in. (15.5 cm.) high

$20,000-30,000

PROVENANCE
Dr. J.R. Belmont, Basel, by repute.
The Pan-Asian Collection (Christian Humann),
by 1977, by repute.
Robert Hatfeld Ellsworth, New York.
Christie’s New York, 21 September 2007, lot 91.
This rare bronze fgure depicts the composite form
of Vishnu and Shiva as can be interpreted from the
diferences between the right and left sides of the
fgure. Vishnu, for instance, can be recognized by
the cylindrical crown and the mace held in the lower
left hand, while the Shiva side is distinguished by the
matted hair from which emerges a serpent.
The position of Vishnu on the left side, the feminine
side, has to do with the greater gender ambiguity of
the god within Hindu theology. The cult of Harihara,
known from at least the third century in North India,
likely had the efect of smoothing the theological
diference between followers of both Hindu paths.
The fgure is dressed in a thin dhoti secured with
multiple belts and sashes and adorned with a sacred
thread and many necklaces. A seated image of
Vishu at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (acc. no.
1987.142.69) dated to the Pallava period appears to
have been cast in a very similar alloy, is sculptured
with the same proportions, and is adorned in an
almost identical fashion.

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