A silver-inlaid bronze double-sided figure of Shiva

KASHMIR, CIRCA 7TH CENTURY

細節

A silver-inlaid bronze double-sided figure of Shiva
Kashmir, circa 7th century
Standing with both legs straight, from one side holding a trident in his right hand and supporting the head of a rearing goat with his left, the other side holding a mace in both hands across the thighs, dressed in a striated dhoti and adorned with the sacred thread and a heavy garland draped over the shoulders, the four faces with serene expression flanked by foliate earrings and surmounted by a short headdress
8½ in. (21.6 cm.) high

來源

Private Collection, Europe, acquired from Sotheby's New York, 5 October 1990, lot 41

出版

P. Pal, "Bronzes of Kashmir, their Sources and Influences," Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, vol. CXXI, no. 5207, 1973, figs. 11 and 12
P. Pal, Bronzes of Kashmir, 1975, pp. 56-57, plate 4
C. Reedy, "Determining the Region of Origin of Himalayan Copper Alloy Statues through Technical Analysis," A Pot-Pourri of Indian Art, 1988, p. 82, fig. 7
C. Reedy, Himalayan Bronzes, 1997, p. 152, cat. no. K37
P. Pal, Himalayas: An Aesthetic Adventure, 2003, p. 100, cat. no. 58
Rossi & Rossi, Gods and Demons of the Himalayas, 2012, p. 8, cat. no. 3

展覽

Himalayas: An Aesthetic Adventure, The Art Institute of Chicago, 5 April - 17 August 2003, cat. no. 58
Gods and Demons of the Himalayas, Fine Art Asia, Hong Kong, 4-7 October 2012; Rossi & Rossi, London, 1-10 November 2012, cat. no. 3

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拍品專文

The unusual iconography of this bronze makes identifying this deity especially difficult. Pal has noted a couple of related double-sided works in stone, which have been identified through Kashmiri iconographical texts as a form of Shiva known as Bhuteshvara. Found only in Kashmir, Shiva in this form shares his body with an attendant, Nandin, who in the present work would be the figure holding the club. The goat had been associated with the iconography of Shiva since the Kushan times and is found in the present work rearing up in obeisance to his master.

More recently, Rossi and Rossi have identified the deity as Pashupati, the "Lord of Animals," an Indian deity now popular in Nepal. With the curved staff of the trident, the deity has the appearance of a pastoral herdsman, and indeed the followers of the Pashupati sect see the deity as a celestial shepherd. The spiraled horns of the goat, they believe, give it the appearance of a gazelle, an important aspect in the story of Pashupati in which Shiva seeks solace from the worshipping masses in the form of that animal in a wooded valley. Rossi and Rossi have suggested the figure holding the club is either Pashupati sect's guru, Lakulisha, or the god of death, Yama.

KASHMIR, CIRCA 7TH CENTURY

拍品專文

更多來自 <strong>印度及東南亞藝術</strong>