A large bronze figure of Parvati

SOUTH INDIA, CHOLA PERIOD, CIRCA 1200

Details

A large bronze figure of Parvati
South India, Chola period, circa 1200
Standing in graceful tribangha on a lotus base over a square plinth, her right hand raised in katakamudra clad in a sheer striated dhoti secured with a festooned belt and adorned with various jewelry and the sacred thread, the face serene with gentle smile and elongated eyes surmounted by a tall conical headdress
25½ in. (65 cm.) high

Provenance

Private collection, London, acquired at Christie's London, 11 December 1973, lot 157

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Lot Essay

The expert craftsmen of the Chola period produced figures of the goddess Parvati that are among the most sensuous images in the history of Indian art. With a slender yet curvaceous figure and wearing the ornaments of a queen, the goddess is the embodiment of the ideals of Indian beauty. In Tamil poetry of the bhakti saints, Parvati's exquisite beauty is espoused through metaphors of the beauties found in nature: her thighs are tapered like the plantain tree, her waist is a slender creeper, her breasts are golden vessels filled with the nectar of the gods, and her gait expressed through the elegant tribhanga pose in which she stands mocks that of the peacock.

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