
Mark Rasmussen
International Director
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HK$320,000 - HK$480,000
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International Director
Pal discusses this bronze as an eccentric Pala-period sculpture, without any known peers, that is 'evidence of a talented sculptor with a flair for originality'. Most unusually, the snake goddess rests above a mysterious globe-like seat. She could have been worshipped in a Hindu, Jain, or Buddhist setting, as a reverence for snakes in South Asia saw them incorporated into all three religions, being associated with vital winding rivers, monsoons, and water. In tantric doctrine, subdued snakes symbolize a deity's ability to quell harmful forces and poisonous emotions.
Published
Pratapaditya Pal, The Elegant Image: Bronzes from the Indian Subcontinent in the Siddharth K. Bhansali Collection, New Orleans, 2011, pp.76-7, no.38
Provenance
The Siddharth K. Bhansali Collection
Acquired in New York, circa 1990
靈蛇女神銅像
奥里萨或孟加拉地区,帕拉時期,十一世紀
高14.6釐米(5 3/4 英吋)
320,000-480,000港元
Pal博士曾在其著錄中討論此尊銅像,稱其為帕拉時期的異乎尋常之作,"其創作者獨具匠心、天資出眾",尚未知任何類似作品存世。此尊靈蛇女神端坐於球形寶座之上,實屬罕見。靈蛇是南亞宗教中的常見形象,出現於印度教、耆那教以及佛教經典之中,常被與河流、雨季及水聯繫在一起,因而此靈蛇女神可能為三教中任一教之信徒所崇拜。在密宗教義中,降伏靈蛇亦有特別的寓意,其象徵尊神除害消災之強大法力。
著錄
Pratapaditya Pal,The Elegant Image: Bronzes from the Indian Subcontinent in the Siddharth K. Bhansali Collection,新奧爾良,2011年,頁76-7,38號
來源
Siddharth K. Bhansali 珍藏
於1990年前後購於紐約