Ganesha Hindu Shahi" art (Afghanistan / Pakistan)... Lot 28

Ganesha Hindu Shahi" art (Afghanistan / Pakistan) ca. 9°-10° centuries White marble. H. 17.5 cm The "master of categories" is represented here seated in an attitude of royal ease (maharajalilasana) on the back of a lion. His upper right hand would have been holding an axe with the end now lost and the lower one the tusk or radish. One of the left hands holds a bowl in which his trunk comes to fetch treats, and the other holds an object placed on the ground, perhaps the vase of lustral water. Current iconography generally associates the lion with Heramba, the five-headed form of Ganesha. However, in ancient times, it appears that this association was frequent in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent. For a sculpture of the same typology, see P. Pal : " A Collecting Odyssey: The Alsdorf Collection of Indian and East Asian Art " art Institute of Chicago 1997 n°63 pp 56 & 286. Provenance: - Former British collection - Acquired from the latter by its current owner.