INDIA, MADHYA PRADESH, CHANDELA PERIOD, DATED 1173

Details

A buff sandstone figure of a reclining celestial woman
India, Madhya Pradesh, Chandela period, dated 1173
Sensitively carved with the goddess reclining on a low bed draped with a blanket, clad in a long dhoti and adorned with multiple necklaces and beaded festoons, with an attendant dressing her hair and another painting the soles of her feet with alaktaka, oil lamps and food vessels visible under the bed, bearing a dedicatory inscription and a date incised on the blanket draped over the bed at center
22¾ x 36 5/8 in. (58 x 93 cm.)

Provenance

Acquired between 1973-1975

Literature

Weltkunst, 1982

Exhibited

Paris Biennale, 1982

Lot Essay

The jewelry the woman wears - kundela (earrings), chhannavira (necklace) and angada (armlets), belt, anklets and toe ring - as well as the red lac dye applied to the feet, are part of the canon of adornments for married women, thus identifying this woman as a wife of a Hindu god. The inscription bears the date Samvat 1231 corresponding to 1173.

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