A REDDISH-BROWN STONE EKAMUKHALINGA

KASHMIR, 6TH-7TH CENTURY

Details

A REDDISH-BROWN STONE EKAMUKHALINGA
KASHMIR, 6TH-7TH CENTURY
Supported on a square form plinth, one face of the linga carved with the face of Shiva, which is adorned with a necklace and earrings, the hair in tight curls and piled into a short chignon
6 ¼ in. (15.9 cm.) high

Provenance

John Siudmak, Asian Art, London, 12 December 1985.
The James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection, Chicago.

Literature

P. Pal, A Collecting Odyssey: Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Art from the James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection, Chicago, 1997, pp. 15 and 272, cat. no. 6.
J. Siudmak, "Gandharan and Western Himalayan Sculpture in the Alsdorf Collection," Orientations, July/August 1997, p. 46, fig. 8.
J. Siudmak, The Hindu-Buddhist Sculpture of Ancient Kashmir and its Influences, Leiden, 2013, p. 171, pl. 67.

Exhibited

The Art Institute of Chicago, “A Collecting Odyssey: Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Art from the James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection,” 2 August-26 October 1997, cat. no. 6.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Vicki Paloympis

alsdorfcollection@christies.com +1 212 636 2180

Lot Essay

Ekamukhalinga is the symbol of a cosmic pillar that connects heaven and earth, and is the focus of worship within a Shaivite temple. Compare the full features, hair arranged in a wide chignon, and beaded necklace of the present lot with a stone ekamukhalinga, dated to the seventh century, in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art (acc. no. 1989.150), and illustrated by P. Pal in Himalayas: An Aesthetic Adventure, Chicago, 2003, p. 95, no. 52.

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