A SANDSTONE RELIEF PANEL OF A GODDESS

NORTHERN INDIA, 10TH/11TH CENTURY

NORTHERN INDIA, 10TH/11TH CENTURY
23 6/8 in. (60.3 cm) high

印度北部 十/十一世紀 砂岩女神石碑

Holding two lotus stalks and a water pot, this sculpture likely represents Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and beauty. Standing in an elegant tribhanga pose, she is joined by a celestial chauri-bearer and two devotees on either side, one kneeling and one standing, ensconced between her right leg and the pillar. The goddess is carved with an accomplished sense of rhythm and balance, suggesting a date no later than the 11th century. A standing goddess accompanying a stele of Reclining Vishnu from Rajasthan, c.925-50, provides a good, slightly earlier, stylistic comparison (Desai & Mason, Gods, Guardians, and Lovers, 1993, no.72).

Provenance:
Gump's, San Francisco, 20 March 1970
Dr. Meyer Zeiler, Los Angeles
Sotheby's, New York, 25 March 2004, lot 28
The Sartin Collection of Asian Art, Pasadena
Bonhams, New York, 13 September 2011, lot 1122
Collection of James E. Breece III