NORTHEASTERN INDIA, PALA PERIOD, 11TH/12TH CENTURY

Details

A blackstone relief of the Vishnupatta
Northeastern India, Pala period, 11th/12th century
Square in shape with Vishnu seated in a niche flanked by two attendants holding flywhisks with Gajalakshmi above and Garuda below, the outer border with Lakshmi standing on a tiger and Saraswati on a tortoise, with further worshipful figures, all surrounded by a beaded edge; the other side with two concentric circles centered by a lotus with a raised flower, the petals filled with dancing figures and interspersed with animals and foliage
7½ x 7½ in. (15 x 15 cm.)

Provenance

The James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection, Chicago, acquired by 1983
Previously sold at Christie's New York, 22 March 2011, lot 2

Exhibited

On loan to Art Institute of Chicago, 1983-2010

Special notice

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Lot Essay

The present work belongs to a corpus of votive tablets devoted to Vishnu dating from the Pala period and found throughout Northeastern India. The precise ritual use for such works is not known, but it has been suggested they were sold to pilgrims for personal use. For another closely related example in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, see J. Cummins, Vishnu: Hinduism's Blue-Skinned Savior, 2011, p. 120, cat. no. 42.

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