A COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF PARVATI


SOUTH INDIA, TAMIL NADU, VIJAYNAGARA PERIOD, 15TH CENTURY 15 1/2 in. (39.3 cm) high
|Parvati is the divine companion of Shiva, representative of fertility, love, and devotion. Considered the epitome of female perfection, particularly as it expresses itself in alignment with marital, societal, and dharmic concord, she is beloved as the ideal maiden, wife, and mother. Moreover, through the prism of Shaktism, she is the active animating force, enlivening her counterpart Shiva with skill, power, and prowess. This bronze's simplified treatment of the jewelry, facial type, and base compare favorably with a Sri-Devi in the Ford Collection, see Pal, Indo-Asian Art, Tokyo, 1971, no.19, and a Chandikesvara published in Sivaramamurti, South Indian Bronzes, New Delhi, 1963, pl.73b. However, the distinctive three tier sashes that fall down her thighs and her robust form follow conventions common in Vijaynagara, as exemplified by a Kaliya-Krishna (Ibid., pl.83b) and a Cosmic Form of Krishna in the Norton Simon Museum (Pal, Art from the Indian Subcontinent, Pasadena, 2003, p.275, no.199).Provenance Jaipaul Galleries, Philadelphia, by 1970 Private Philadelphia Collection, 1970s – 2014 Sotheby's, New York, 19 March 2014, lot 45