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16th Century Vijaynager Bronze Vishnu Bhogsthankamurti browse these categories for related items... All Items: Antiques:Regional Art:Asian:Indian Subcontinent:India: Pre 1492: item # 992931 Please refer to our stock # 1147 when inquiring.
Boran Asian Art Grays, 1-7 Davies Mews, Mayfair, London, W1 0044 (0)795 422 8735 Guest Book Price On Request |
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Details: A handsome and well modelled example of a bronze Vijaynager image of Vishnu Bhogsthankamurti the Hindu god of preservation and balance. Vishnu is standing in Samabhanga on a lotus pedestal supported by a tiered moulded square base with his lower right hand is raised Abhayamudra and his lower left resting gently on his mace, his upper hands that would have held his Chakra and Sankha are unfortunately damaged and the attributes lost. Vishnu is richly adorned with an entire range of jewelled ornaments, his sacred thread and a tall cylindrical crown from which escaping strands of hair rest along his broad shoulders. He is wearing a long pleated dhoti suspending sashes from a wide hip belt centred with a beautiful Kirttimukha clasp. This particular bronze is very satisfying due to its naturalistic chunkiness which harks back to the great earlier Pallava and Chola styles of bronze casting that seems to have been lost in later Southern Indian bronze casted images. The piece has been slightly built up on the back of the base to make the image stand upright due to bending over time. Most bronzes of the Vijaynager and later Nayak period were roughly modelled in wax and achieved by elaborate chiselling work after the bronze was cast. There are however exceptions on which every detail was minutely carved onto the wax model so that the resulting image had only to be polished. This is the case with this bronze, the technique of which relates to the North Eastern tradition of the Bihari casters who probably settled down in Southern India after the rise of Islam in their own region. The face with its large protruding starring eyes, thick upper lip, high forehead and vigorous modelling seem to show techniques applied in the Deccan school and more probably to the Western border of it, possible Karnataka. Vishnu is regarded as a major god in Hinduism and Indian mythology. He is thought as the preserver of the universe while two other major Hindu gods Brahma and Shiva are regarded respectively, as the creator and destroyer of the universe. In some Puranic literature Vishnu is said to be eternal, an all-pervading spirit, and associated with the primeval waters that are believed to have been omnipresent before the creation of the universe. Age: 16th Century or probably earlier. Height: 21 cm. Remarks: This piece has been published in “New Studies into Indian and Himalayan Sculpture” by Armand Neven, plate 202. The piece has an additional provenance of Mr. Jean Nies. |
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