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Directory: Antiques: Regional Art: Asian: Indian Subcontinent: India: Pre 1837 VR: Item # 1455759

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Dmitry Levit Asian Art
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3 Highland Park
Cambridge, MA 02139
617-875-8154

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Late 18th to early 19th century Indian bronze votive sculpture of Ganesha sitting on Mooshika - a bandicoot rat that serves as Ganesha’s vehicle. Ganesha is the remover of obstacles, and thus is invoked before any new undertaking such as marriage or new business. He bestows good luck on his worshippers, and is prayed to in some forms of Tantric worship. With Ganesha being a destroyer of obstacles and the deity of wealth, Mooshika the rat is perfect for the job: he gnaws through any obstacles, and his name means “Little Hoarder”, so he has riches to share. Bold heavy casting with good sense of volume, wonderful idiosyncratic treatment of the subject, excellent patina, pleasantly heavy. Height 4 1/2 inches.