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Lot Essay
In a private New York collection since 1974, this richly-patinated and large-scale bronze figure of Uma is a majestic example of late Chola-period sculpture.
With a 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 or devotional saints, the exquisite beauty of Uma is espoused through metaphors of the beauties found in nature: thighs tapered like the plantain tree; waist slender like a creeper; breasts as if golden vessels filled with the nectar of the gods; and an elegant gait expressed through the tribhanga or triple-bend pose; all beautifully expressed in the present lot.
The expert craftspeople of the Chola period produced bronze figures of the goddess Uma that are among the most sensuous images in the corpus of Indian art. The commission and production of such processional bronzes was a meritorious act by royal or wealthy devotees. While the construction of temples was considered the ultimate demonstration of wealth and power, the commissioning of bronzes was within the financial accessibility of the nobility, merchant and priestly classes. As the cost of production, in precious materials and manual labor, was relatively high, the production of bronze images exhibited dedication and devotion to the Shaivite tradition, which was intrinsically tied to the political power structure of the Chola empire. In this period, Uma and her consort became the intense focus of devotion.
Compare the tiered karandamukuta, the elegant splay of curls along the back of the neck, and the necklaces with heavy lozenges with another twelfth-century bronze figure of Uma sold in at Christie's New York, 15 March 2017, lot 240. Also compare the robust physiognomy of the current work—including the broad shoulders, attenuated waist, rounded hips and voluptuous thighs—with a thirteenth-century bronze figure of Uma formerly in the H. Stocklin Collection, Basel, sold at Christie's New York, 22 March 2011, lot 416. The twelfth-thirteenth century date is further supported by the triple line or trivali tarangini incised in the belly, a late-Chola convention, as well as the tiered karandamukuta—the karanda or tiers which increase in number toward the early Vijayanagara period.
With a 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 or devotional saints, the exquisite beauty of Uma is espoused through metaphors of the beauties found in nature: thighs tapered like the plantain tree; waist slender like a creeper; breasts as if golden vessels filled with the nectar of the gods; and an elegant gait expressed through the tribhanga or triple-bend pose; all beautifully expressed in the present lot.
The expert craftspeople of the Chola period produced bronze figures of the goddess Uma that are among the most sensuous images in the corpus of Indian art. The commission and production of such processional bronzes was a meritorious act by royal or wealthy devotees. While the construction of temples was considered the ultimate demonstration of wealth and power, the commissioning of bronzes was within the financial accessibility of the nobility, merchant and priestly classes. As the cost of production, in precious materials and manual labor, was relatively high, the production of bronze images exhibited dedication and devotion to the Shaivite tradition, which was intrinsically tied to the political power structure of the Chola empire. In this period, Uma and her consort became the intense focus of devotion.
Compare the tiered karandamukuta, the elegant splay of curls along the back of the neck, and the necklaces with heavy lozenges with another twelfth-century bronze figure of Uma sold in at Christie's New York, 15 March 2017, lot 240. Also compare the robust physiognomy of the current work—including the broad shoulders, attenuated waist, rounded hips and voluptuous thighs—with a thirteenth-century bronze figure of Uma formerly in the H. Stocklin Collection, Basel, sold at Christie's New York, 22 March 2011, lot 416. The twelfth-thirteenth century date is further supported by the triple line or trivali tarangini incised in the belly, a late-Chola convention, as well as the tiered karandamukuta—the karanda or tiers which increase in number toward the early Vijayanagara period.