Page 20 - Christies Indian and Himalayan Art Sept 2015

69 aMBIKa

18 The graceful yakshi Ambika, whose name means
little mother, is worshipped by Hindu and Jain
devotees alike. According to Jain tradition, Ambika
offered food intended for a Brahmin celebration
to a mendicant Jain monk, and consequently was
banished to the forest by her husband, Soma.
Taking her two sons with her, she sustained her
children’s thirst with her tears and their hunger
with mangoes, and she devoted herself completely
to the Jain tirthankaras. Fearing her husband
would punish her further, she cast herself into a
well, whereupon she was reborn as the glorious
goddess Ambika.

69
A RED SANDSTONE STELE OF AMBIKA
NORTHERN INDIA, 13TH CENTURY

Finely carved standing in a swaying stance under an
lush mango tree, with one of her sons resting on her
left hip, the other standing by her right leg, adorned
with an elaborately beaded pendant belt, armlets and
necklaces draped across her breasts, her face with
smiling lips, almond-shaped eyes and arched brows
40 in. (101.6 cm.) high

$30,000-50,000

PROVENANCE:

Acquired by 1998, New York

Compare the present work with an example from the
Alsdorf Collection, which also depicts the goddess standing
under a mango tree with her two children (P. Pal, A
Collecting Odyssey, 1997, p.176 and 322, cat. no.223).

70
A RED SANDSTONE STELE OF A SEATED AMBIKA
INDIA, RAJASTHAN, 10TH/11TH CENTURY

Seated atop a throne with her right leg pendent, her
left tucked into her lap, her left hand reaching down
to grasp a water pot, adorned with a sash and heavily
festooned necklaces, armlets and anklets, her lips in a
slight smile, with elongated eyes and arched brows,
surmounted by an elaborate headdress
31º in. (79.4 cm.) high

$40,000-60,000

PROVENANCE:

Acquired by 1999, New York

EXHIBITED:

Important Asian Art, International Asian Art Fair,
the Seventh Regiment Armory, New York, 24-29
March 2000

PUBLISHED:

The Chinese Porcelain Company, Important Asian
Art, 2000, p.51, fg.14

Compare with a 6th-7th century Bihari sculpture of
Ambika in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art which
portrays the voluptuous multi-armed goddess seated
and adorned in intricate jewelry, including an elaborate
headdress (M.90.165).