Important Gupta redstone Linga w head of Shiva, India, 5th. cent. AD
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Directory: Antiques: Regional Art: Asian: Indian Subcontinent: Pre AD 1000: Item # 1482676
Directory: Antiques: Regional Art: Asian: Indian Subcontinent: Pre AD 1000: Item # 1482676
$2,950.00
Reduced, was $4500
Reduced, was $4500
An exceptionally large and attractive Linga / Lingam, depicting the head of Shiva, Gupta period, Madhya Pradesh, 4th.-5th. century AD.
The face of the Hindu god Shiva emerges from this linga, the emblem through which he is most commonly worshiped. Most lingas are non-figural, their abstracted phallic shape alluding to Shiva’s transcendent power and generative energy. Here, Shiva is also represented in anthropomorphic form, manifesting himself to devotees. Shiva’s third eye, placed vertically in his forehead, is both a symbol of his all-seeing wisdom and the source of the fire of destruction, through which he annihilates then regenerates the cosmos.
The head is of exceptional sculptural quality for the period and carved in a fine red stone with beige inclusions.
Size: c. 42 cm. tall and weighing around 15 kilograms.
Condition: Choice for the extremely large specimen, with abbrasions to the nose and right side of the face and hairknot, some weathering and corrosion. Modern polishing of the base, to make it stand evenly.
Reff. See Israel Museum, Accession number: B78.1293 and The Met, Accession Number: 1987.142.323, for similar style, but much smaller lingams of the period. See also a sandstone specimen of same condition and size at Christies, The James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection, Chicago, sale 2011, which went at $17.500.
Ex. Old Danish Estate collection of Tom Klitgaard, aquired 1960s-1990s.
The face of the Hindu god Shiva emerges from this linga, the emblem through which he is most commonly worshiped. Most lingas are non-figural, their abstracted phallic shape alluding to Shiva’s transcendent power and generative energy. Here, Shiva is also represented in anthropomorphic form, manifesting himself to devotees. Shiva’s third eye, placed vertically in his forehead, is both a symbol of his all-seeing wisdom and the source of the fire of destruction, through which he annihilates then regenerates the cosmos.
The head is of exceptional sculptural quality for the period and carved in a fine red stone with beige inclusions.
Size: c. 42 cm. tall and weighing around 15 kilograms.
Condition: Choice for the extremely large specimen, with abbrasions to the nose and right side of the face and hairknot, some weathering and corrosion. Modern polishing of the base, to make it stand evenly.
Reff. See Israel Museum, Accession number: B78.1293 and The Met, Accession Number: 1987.142.323, for similar style, but much smaller lingams of the period. See also a sandstone specimen of same condition and size at Christies, The James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection, Chicago, sale 2011, which went at $17.500.
Ex. Old Danish Estate collection of Tom Klitgaard, aquired 1960s-1990s.
