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Lot 59

A blackstone stele of Vishnu
Northeast India, Pala period, 11th century

16 March 2015, 16:00 EDT
New York

Sold for US$87,500 inc. premium

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A blackstone stele of Vishnu

Northeast India, Pala period, 11th century
Holding the mace and chakra, and displaying the gesture of charity, with Lakshmi to the right with the fly whisk, a Saravasti to the left with the vina, the deities adorned with lavish silks, swags, garlands, and necklaces.
31 1/2 in. (80 cm) high

Footnotes

The stele has been richly carved to form an ornate mandorla of elephants, vyalas, makaras, kinnaras, apsaras, topped by a kirtimukha mask. At the base, devotees offer their hands in prayer, kneeling amongst swirling lotus vines, one of which reaches up beside Laskhmi and blooms to provide a rest for Vishnu's right hand in varada mudra.

For a very closely related example attributed to Bangladesh in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, see Huntington, Leaves from the Bodhi Tree, Dayton, 1989, no. 36. Comparable examples were also sold at Christie's, New York, 12 September 2009, lot 579 and Sotheby's, New York, 20 March 2013, lot 273.

Referenced:
HAR – himalayanart.org/image.cfm/41250.html

Provenance:
Private Massachusetts Collection since 1968

Additional information

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