A SANDSTONE FIGURE OF DANCING GANESHA

NORTHERN INDIA, 10TH/11TH CENTURY

NORTHERN INDIA, 10TH/11TH CENTURY
33 1/2 in. (85 cm) high

印度北部 十/十一世紀 砂岩舞姿象神像

Musicians carved in low relief on the bottom corners of this stele provide the rhythm for Ganesha's frolic. Two additional diminutive dancing figures of Ganesha add symmetry to the central subject. Despite the considerable paunches of all three, each moves with a surprising lightness of foot. One foot is placed before the other, with the leg bent at the knee, while the head, torso, and lower body are ingeniously inclined in different directions to simulate the postures of dance.

A closely related example, in volume and movement, formerly of the Alsdorf Collection, is published in Pal, A Collecting Odyssey, 1997, pp.60 & 287, no.70. The posture and composition of the present lot also parallel those of a red sandstone stele of Dancing Ganesha sold at Christie's, New York, 20 March 2019, lot 645. Also compare the lithe figural treatment in an example in the Philadelphia Museum of Art (1971-154-1).

Provenance:
Albert Rudolph, Rudi Oriental Arts, New York, 1970
Christie's, New York, September 13, 2011, no. 260
Private Collection, New York