Exchange: South Asian Objects for Great Books

South Asian Objects for Great Books

Ganesha is shown here seated on a double lotus throne, in a royal posture with the soles of his feet together. He has four arms, and holds two of his attributes in the rear pair: an ax and a rosary. His trunk curls down across his rotund belly to reach for a bowl of sweets that rests in his left forward arm. The cobra slung across his shoulder, now hard to make out because of the centuries of wear of the stone, indicates Ganesha's lineage as the son of the Shiva, in his aspect as the great ascetic. Almost 27 inches high, this sculpture of the Hindu god Ganesha is carved of andesite, a volcanic stone common to the island of Java in Indonesia. Andesite is a soft stone and erodes easily, which is why the carving is no longer crisp.

Indonesian
Ganesha, seated on a double lotus throne
andesite (volcanic stone)
27 9/16 in x 13 3/4 in x 11 5/8 in (70.01 cm x 34.92 cm x 29.53 cm);27 9/16 in x 13 3/4 in x 11 5/8 in (70.01 cm x 34.92 cm x 29.53 cm)
Museum Purchase

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Shiva stands in an unbending pose and the sculpture is broken just below the knees. He is two-armed and his right hand is raised with his palm outward. His left arm is broken away. He wears a short lower garment with incised lines delineating folds and he is ithyphallic, his upraised penis extending up from behind his belt. He wears simple jewelry, a belt, armlets, a bracelet on the one wrist still extant and a simple beaded necklace. There is an auspicious diamond pattern in the middle of his chest. He has a fleshy face with a full mouth and large eyes, a third eye is incised on his forehead. His hair is done in an elaborate coiffure piled high. <br />

Indian
Standing figure of Shiva
sandstone
16 1/8 in x 8 13/16 in x 3 9/16 in (41 cm x 22.4 cm x 9 cm);16 1/8 in x 8 13/16 in x 3 9/16 in (41 cm x 22.4 cm x 9 cm)
Gift of Mark and Iuliana Phillips

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A fragment of a stucco relief sculpture.

Artist Unknown, Gandhara (Ancient Pakistan and Afghanistan)
Buddha, seated in the padmasana pose, in dhyana mudra, attended by Indra
stucco relief with traces of polychromy
10 1/4 in. x 9 5/8 in. x 3 3/4 in. ( 26 cm x 24.5 cm x 9.5 cm )
Museum purchase for the James Marshall Plumer Memorial Collection

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The four-armed Durga sits on a stylized crouching lion with her right leg pendant and the left one across her body. Her front right hand extends down with palm outwards in a boon giving gesture while the back right hand holds a sword. Her left font hand holds a fruit or flower bud while her back left hand holds a shield. The whole is simply carved with rather subdued jewelry, but she does wear necklaces, bracelets, armlets and loose anklets as well as large circular earrings and a diadem across her forehead. Her hair is arranged behind the diadem. The stele is subtly pointed and its only decoration is a band along the outside, although a throne is suggested at her knees. A highly stylized lotus supports her right foot at the base.<br />

Indian
Durga on her lion mount
stone
21 7/8 in x 12 3/4 in x 4 3/4 in (55.56 cm x 32.39 cm x 12.07 cm);21 7/8 in x 12 3/4 in x 4 3/4 in (55.56 cm x 32.39 cm x 12.07 cm)
Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Leo S. Figiel and Dr. and Mrs. Steven J. Figiel

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Varahi has a crowned boar’s head on a woman’s body. She sits with her ankles crosses and originally had four arms, the back two have broken away as has the front right hand which had probably been held up in a reassuring gesture. Her left from hand is held down at her left knee with the palm held facing out in a gesture of giving. Her body is softly modeled with a narrow waist and full breasts. She wears jewelry that is in sharp but low relief and includes a series of necklaces forming a collar of decoration and a longer one that falls between her breasts which suggests the sacred thread extending down to her waist at her right. She is naked from the waist up and the lower garment is merely suggested by the heavier folds at the waist. Her head is tilted and her chin/snout had jutted out to the left, but the lower snout is broken away. She wears a conical crown that accents the long diagonal of her face. Originally there was an arch behind the image which would have supported her back arms, so the imag

Artist Unknown, India, Tamil Nandu, Kanchipuran
Varahi
granite
28 1/8 in x 21 in x 13 in (71.4 cm x 53.3 cm x 33.02 cm);28 1/8 in x 21 in x 13 in (71.4 cm x 53.3 cm x 33 cm)
Museum Purchase

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This intricate stele has a large Varaha in the center. He is in the archer’s stance, with his right leg extended and his left leg bent resting on a lotus held up by a male and female snake figures. They have human bodies from the waist up and knotted snake bodies below. Varaha has a human body with the head of a boar, his head thrown back supporting the figure of the earth goddess who holds on to his snout. A lotus leaf acts as an umbrella over his head. Three of his four arms are intact with his right one at his hip holding a broken lotus, only the stem survives, and the two left hands holding a conch at his chest and a discus at his knee. The broken arm held the club and the top of it is still visible next to the pavilion on the left over his shoulder. Besides the two snake figures, three figures stand on the base to either side, the other one female, while the others are male. The inner two hold the conch and discus and can be considered shankhapurausha and cakrapurusha, the personifications of the

Indian
Vishnu as Varaha, the Cosmic Boar
sandstone
22 7/16 in x 18 5/16 in x 6 1/2 in (57 cm x 46.5 cm x 16.5 cm);22 7/16 in x 18 5/16 in x 6 1/2 in (57 cm x 46.5 cm x 16.5 cm)
Museum Purchase made possible by the Margaret Watson Parker Art Collection Fund

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Vishnu stand in a strict unbending pose, samabhanga and has four hands. Reading clockwise from the front right hand, he holds lotus, a club, a discus and a conch. The lotus and conch are also personified with full standing figures at the base below his tow front hands, the lotus as a female figure to his right and the conch as a male figure to his left. On the pointed arch behind the figure a flying figure holding garlands is carved in shallow relief to either side of his crown. He wears a diaphanous lower cloth, the folds of the garment are articulated with a flared section down the center. He wears a long garland down to his knees, a sacred thread and various pieces of jewelry, including bracelets, armlets, a necklace and large earrings and an elaborate crown.<br />

Indian
Vishnu Stele, four-armed Vishnu with two of his attributes personified
black schist
50 15/16 in x 24 in x 11 1/4 in (129.4 cm x 60.96 cm x 28.58 cm);50 15/16 in x 24 in x 11 1/4 in (129.4 cm x 60.96 cm x 28.58 cm);6 5/16 in (16 cm);8 in x 25 in x 15 in (20.32 cm x 63.5 cm x 38.1 cm)
Museum purchase made possible by the Margaret Watson Parker Art Collection Fund

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The two-armed figure dances with his right leg raised and wrapped around a club. His left arm crosses his body and rests above the club and his right hand is raised almost to his ear. Tassels hang from him hips and under his armpits adding a great sense of movement to the whole figure. Multi-hooded snakes are at the base and also around the bottom of the club. He wears much of jewelry including bracelets, anklets, necklaces with should loops and an elaborate belt. His stomach protrudes over the belt. He also has large earrings and a jewel encrusted crown. His eyes bulge out and his mouth is open showing his teeth. He is a pair with 1980/2.291.<br />

Indian
Dvarapala (temple guardian; pair with 1980/2.291)
wood
51 9/16 in x 20 7/8 in x 12 3/16 in (131 cm x 53 cm x 31 cm);51 9/16 in x 20 7/8 in x 12 3/16 in (131 cm x 53 cm x 31 cm)
Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Leo S. Figiel and Dr. and Mrs. Steven J. Figiel

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Shiva as Bhairava stands against a plain pointed arch supported by pilasters with a kirtimukha or face of glory at the top. He stands in a trihanga pose, with his hip thrust to his right and wears platform sandals. He originally has four arms, the front two of which are broken away. His back two arms hold a decorated trident and a drum. He would have held a sword in one hand and a kapala, a cup made out of a scull and a hanging severed head in the other. He is naked, but wears much of jewelry including belts with pendant elements, anklets, armlets, bracelets, necklaces, a band just under his breasts and large circular earrings. He also wears a decorated sacred thread over his left shoulder. His has an elaborate coiffure in curls around the top of his head with a large topknot to one side. His face is badly damaged. Emaciated hungry ghosts attend him, the one to his right dancing with his hands raised above his head with a pot between his legs. The ghost who is on his left stands behind a dog, whose head has b

Indian
Shiva as Bhairava
stone
34 1/4 in x 21 9/16 in x 9 in (87 cm x 54.8 cm x 22.8 cm);34 1/4 in x 21 9/16 in x 9 in (87 cm x 54.8 cm x 22.8 cm)
Gift of Professor Walter M. and Nesta R. Spink in honor of Vishakha Desai and Robert Oxnam

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