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Published & Exhibited:
1. Asiatische Kunst aus den Sammlungen Georg und Werner Reinhart, Kunstverein Winterthur, 12 January-23 February 1936, p. 11, no. 10 (dated to the 13th century)
2. Asiatische Kunst aus Schweizer Sammlungen, Kunsthalle Bern, 1 February-30 March 1941, p. 16, no. 19 (dated 14th-15th century)
3. Die Sammlung Georg Reinhart, Kunstmuseum Winterthur, 24 May - 23 August 1998, p. 228 (illustrated), no. 239 (dated 16th century)
South India. Finely cast, the sacred bull Nandi, vehicle and devoted attendant of Shiva, shown standing foursquare upon a flat plinth. The powerful body is richly adorned with an elaborate saddlecloth finely incised with geometric patterns, ornamental harnesses, pendant bells, tassels, and scrolling foliate motifs across the flanks and haunches. The head is raised with an alert expression, marked by large almond-shaped eyes, short pointed horns, projecting ears, and a slightly open mouth revealing the teeth. Further embellished with necklaces, anklets, and a long slender tail curving toward the ground.
Provenance: The collection of E. Fleury Pondicherry and Mme. Etienne Jodelle, Paris, France. Collection of Georg Reinhart, Winterthur, Switzerland, acquired from the above in March 1935, and thence by descent in the same family. Georg Reinhart (1877-1955) was an important German art collector, born as one of five children to the lawyer and business entrepreneur Theodor Reinhart (1849-1919) and Lilly Reinhart, née Volkart (1855-1916). In 1851, Reinhart’s maternal grandfather, Salomon Volkart (1816-1893), and his brother Johann Georg Volkart (1825-1862) founded the company Gebrüder Volkart in Winterthur and Bombay, with strategically important branches in India and London that were central to the firm’s cotton-trading business. Reinhart’s father, Theodor, became a partner in 1879 and, in 1912, assumed the management of the trading house together with his sons, including Georg. Georg had previously completed a commercial apprenticeship with the firm, which took him to England, India, the United States, and the Far East. He became a partner in 1904 and senior manager in 1919. He was married to a daughter of the prominent Swiss textile entrepreneur Robert Schwarzenbach, further connecting him with one of Switzerland’s leading industrial families. A self-taught artist, Reinhart served as vice president of the Winterthur Art Association from 1907 to 1939 and as president of the Gallery Association from 1933 to 1950. He supported numerous artists, writers, and cultural figures, including Hermann Hubacher, Giovanni Mardersteig, Niklaus Stoecklin, Karl Geiser, Frans Masereel, and Hermann Hesse. In 1924, he initiated the Kirchner exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Winterthur. Reinhart collected French Impressionist, German Expressionist, and East Asian art, including works by Karl Hofer and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Important parts of his collection are now held by institutions including the Kunst Museum Winterthur, the Kunstmuseum Basel, and the Museum Rietberg in Zurich.
Condition: Good condition with expected wear and casting irregularities. Rubbing, corrosion, scattered nicks, expected encrustations. The bronze with a naturally developed, rich dark-brown patina, subtly accentuated by areas of warm, smooth wear.
Weight: 2,788.7 g
Dimensions: Length 19.5 cm, Height 19.5 cm
The upper back is pierced with a slot, possibly intended to accommodate a separately cast element, while the rear of the abdomen is pierced with an aperture.
Metallurgical Scientific Analysis:
XRF analysis identifies the metal as a zinc-rich copper alloy containing 25.0% Zn, 3.0% Sn, and 3.3% Pb, with minor Fe and Si. While South Indian metal images of the medieval period were, unlike their counterparts from Gujarat or Rajasthan, predominantly cast in tin- and lead-bearing bronzes, the use of zinc-rich brass is nevertheless well documented. Particularly significant is Sharada Srinivasan’s extensive archaeometallurgical study of South Indian metal sculpture, which records a Vijayanagara-period Rama, dated to circa the 14th century, cast in brass containing 21% zinc. The 25% zinc content of the present figure therefore finds a close metallurgical parallel within documented 14th century South Indian sculpture.
Literature: Sharada Srinivasan, “Lead Isotope and Trace Element Analysis in the Study of Over a Hundred South Indian Metal Icons,” Archaeometry 41/1, 1999, pp. 91–116; Sharada Srinivasan, “Tamil Chola Bronzes and Swamimalai Legacy: Metal Sources and Archaeotechnology,” JOM 68, 2016, pp. 2207–2221.
Literature comparison:
Compare a related bronze figure of a seated Nandi, Chola dynasty, dated to the 12th century, in the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institute.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 30 March 2006, lot 74
Price: USD 24,000 or approx. EUR 35,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A bronze figure of a reclining Nandi, India, Karnataka, circa 15th century
Expert remark: Compare the related modeling of the bovine with similar facial details and caparison. Note the size (24.2 cm).
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 21 March 2015, lot 1072
Price: USD 30,000 or approx. EUR 37,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A bronze figure of Nandi, South India, circa 17th century
Expert remark: Compare the related modeling of the bovine with similar stance and size (20.3 cm).
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