India, Madhya Pradesh, 10th century. The six-armed elephant-headed god dancing with two legs bent on a rectangular plinth, wearing anklets, arm bangles and a tiara with strands of pearls. His expressive face with gentle eyes and ears fanning open, flanked by musicians, dancers, and animals inside niches, with four vidyadharas bearing garlands above, the torana centered by a lotus finial.Provenance: Arnold H. Lieberman Buddhist & Hindu Antiquities, New York, 4 April 2006. Peter Hardt, Germany, acquired from the above. Arnold Lieberman, known as 'The Grumpy Connoisseur', has been a fine art and antique dealer since the early 1970s and was on the board of directors of The Art and Antique Dealers League of America for ten years. A copy of the original invoice, at a price of USD 38,000 and describing the piece as “One Stone Dancing Ganesh” and “India, Madhya Pradesh, c. 10th century” accompanies this lot.Condition: Superb condition commensurate with age, extensive wear and losses, signs of weathering and associated erosion.Dimensions: Height 81.5 cm (excl. base)This masterfully carved Ganesha embodies the energy of present devotion imbued with the authority of the past. His supple body, slender waistline, delicate jewelry, graceful face, and ten arms, together with the elongated proportions and lyrical bends of the accompanying figures, situates the sculpture firmly in the tenth century, when stone carving had reached a superb level of mastery in northern and central India. During this period, artists made use of the soft local sandstone to create agile figures that belie the heaviness of the material.Working from single blocks of stone, they realized glorious deities surrounded by mythical animals and members of the celestial supporting cast, all carved in deep relief with portions of the stone pierced entirely through, adding negative space to enhance the form. The liveliness of Ganesha's dance similarly belies not only the material but also his corpulent stature. His dance connects him with Shiva, who dances the universe into oblivion, yet Ganesha's dance has a childlike quality that lightens Shiva's cosmic load. Energetically dancing to the classical rhythms of drums and cymbals and the melody of flutes resounding from the gracious musicians at his feet, he carries away all obstacles and grants those who behold him the ability to achieve success.Ganesha, the beloved elephant-headed god of prosperity and remover of obstacles, is worshipped throughout India at the beginning of journeys or undertaking of new endeavors. As such, he is often placed at thresholds or entries in private homes, and he is the first deity encountered even in massive, multi-sanctum temple complexes, where he is worshipped with offerings of sweets, fruits, coins, flowers, and freshly cut grass. He is a symbol of abundance, and he is also a paragon of wisdom, having broken off his own tusk and recorded the Mahabharata at the time of its recitation by the great sage Vyasa. Although he is the son of Shiva and Parvati, Ganesha is honored by all devotees and is the most popular god in modern India.Mounted on a modern metal base. (2)Literature comparison: Compare with a related sandstone figure from the 10th century in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, published in Darielle Mason, Gods, Guardians, and Lovers, New York, 1993, p. 168, cat. no. 17.Auction result comparison: Compare with a closely related sandstone figure of Ganesha, 111 cm high, at Christie's in The India Sale on 15 December 2015, lot 119, sold for EUR 98,010 (INR 8,625.000).