A LARGE AND RARE TAMIL NADU WOOD RELIEF OF THE WISE SAINT RSHI
A LARGE AND RARE TAMIL NADU WOOD RELIEF OF THE WISE SAINT RSHI
Wood relief
India, Tamil Nadu, approx. 17th to 18th cent.
Rare, very expressively designed unusual sculpture of a standing, almost naked man with big head, big eyes and pointy beard. He is wearing a tiara around the forehead, tall ascetic hair tuft and a leg raised high up to his head with lower leg resting on his hiking stick. Rshi are wise men, who acquire extraterrestial power through asceticism and are thus included to the half-gods. One can describe them as Maha-rshi (Great Wise Ones) or also as Deva-rshi (Divine Wise Ones).
Dimensions: HEIGHT 79,5 CM
Condition: Good age-related condition
Provenance: From an old German private collection