登录
Finely carved, the four-headed deity shown with a powerfully modeled torso and four arms, holding a conch in the lowered left hand. The principal face serene and idealized, with almond-shaped eyes beneath arched brows, a straight nose, and full lips forming a subtle smile, centered by the third eye.
The lateral faces embody contrasting aspects of Shiva, one fierce and wrathful with a contorted expression, the other markedly gentler and more serene, corresponding respectively to Aghora and Vamadeva, while the fourth face appears at the back.
The deity is richly adorned with beaded necklaces, large circular earrings, armlets, a sacred thread, and an elaborate jeweled girdle. Each head is surmounted by an ornate crown or headdress, the principal crown rising high above the forehead with densely carved foliate and beaded ornament.
Provenance: And important Italian private collection. Leonardo Vigorelli, Bergamo, Italy, acquired from the above. Leonardo Vigorelli is a retired Italian art dealer and noted collector, specializing in African and ancient Hindu-Buddhist art. After studying anthropology and decades of travel as well as extensive field research in India, the Himalayan region, Southeast Asia, and Africa, he founded the Dalton Somaré art gallery in Milan, Italy, which today is run by his two sons.
Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age. Old wear, obvious losses, signs of weathering and erosion, minor structural cracks, old repairs and few minor fills, encrustations. The marble with a superb, naturally grown, smooth patina.
Weight: 69.2 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 71 cm (excl. stand), 84 cm (incl. stand)
This early iconic form of Shiva as the Great God, or mahadeva, embodies his contradictory aspects. Shiva is both a yogi who lives outside of society and a king who rules the world. His yogic qualities can be seen in the matted locks of hair, yet he wears a king’s crown. The forward-looking face of Shiva embodies his sovereignty. His feminine aspect embodies features associated with creation and nurturing. She emanates as his wife Parvati, here seen as his left face. His right head is Bhairava, whose fearsome face embodies Shiva’s powers of destruction.
Shahi sculpture represents one of the most fascinating chapters in the art of the ancient northwest, created across present-day Afghanistan and northern Pakistan between the decline of Kushan power and the Islamic conquest. Although the Hindu Shahi dynasty itself arose only in the ninth century, the term is conventionally applied to the wider corpus of Hindu sculpture produced in the region from the post-Kushan period onward. As Donald M. Stadtner has observed, these works emerged within a richly cosmopolitan environment where Buddhism and Hinduism flourished side by side. Xuanzang, traveling through Kapisha in the seventh century, recorded numerous Hindu temples and Shaivite ascetics whose bodies were smeared with ash. Surviving sculptures from Khair Khaneh, Gardez, Tapa Skandar, Hund, and Swat reveal an artistic tradition that united the naturalistic inheritance of Gandhara with Gupta ideals of physical beauty and powerful influences from Kashmir and northern India.
The present bust of Shiva Mahadeva is a commanding expression of this distinctive sculptural tradition. The deity’s three visible heads—centered by the principal face with its vertical third eye and flanked by contrasting benign and fierce aspects—proclaim Shiva’s manifold cosmic nature. The broad shoulders, swelling chest, and softly modeled abdomen possess an imposing physical presence, while the elaborate crowns, abundant jewelry, and remarkably animated lateral faces demonstrate the exceptional inventiveness of the sculptor. These elements exemplify the creative independence of the Shahi ateliers, whose artists transformed inherited Indian iconographic conventions into images of striking regional character. Monumental in conception and exceptionally sophisticated in execution, the present sculpture vividly embodies the cultural brilliance of the Hindu kingdoms that once flourished between Kabul, Gandhara, Kashmir, and the upper Indus.
Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related Shahi marble sculpture, depicting Avalokiteshvara, 86 cm high, formerly with Alexander Goetz, London, published by Donald M. Stadtner, 'Shahi Sculpture Revisited,' in Orientations, October 1999, p. 70, fig. 4. Compare a related schist figure of standing Shiva Mahadeva, Northern India, Kashmir, dated to the 8th century, 53 cm high, in the Cleveland Museum of Art, accession number 1989.369.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 20 March 2012, lot 39
Price: USD 98,500 or approx. EUR 124,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An important green stone figure of Shiva and Nandi, India, Kashmir, 8th century
Expert remark: Compare the related modeling and subject. Note the different stone and smaller size (52.1 cm).
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Zacke, Vienna, 11 October 2023, lot 234
Price: EUR 36,400 or approx. EUR 40,500 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A limestone figure of the three-headed Vaikuntha Vishnu, Hindu Shahi, Northwestern India, 8th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of carving. Note the state of preservation, different stone, and larger size (103.4 cm).
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