STÈLE DE DURGA MAHISHASURAMARDINI EN GRÈS INDE... Lot n° 5

STÈLE DE DURGA MAHISHASURAMARDINI EN GRÈS INDE DU NORD, VIII/IXE SIÈCLE 51 cm (20 1/8 in.) high Footnotes: A SANDSTONE STELE OF DURGA MAHISHASURAMARDINI NORTH INDIA, 8TH/9TH CENTURY 印度北部 八/九世紀 砂岩屠牛魔者難近母石碑 Provenance: With Claude de Marteau, Brussels, by 1970s This sculpture emphasizes Durga's mild and gentle aspects (saumya). Despite the violence inherent in her effortless dispatching of the squirming demon, the goddess benignly offers a comforting gaze (darshan) to the viewer. There is a playful character to Durga's lion mount rearing on its hind legs and grappling with the demon's legs. Similar to other sculptures produced around the turn of the Second Millennium CE, such as a 10th-century example in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (33.65.2), this composition does not yet show the buffalo fully decapitated. Instead, the sculptor suggests the buffalo suffered little discomfort from the incision made across its neck from which Durga exorcised Mahisha; rather than resting limp, the buffalo's tail curls upward between his hind legs, and while bowing to Durga in submission, the rotund animal still appears to graze calmly. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com Fair overall condition, with obvious losses to the top edge of the back panel, and to the right arm. Extensive abrasions and loss of details to the whole, from prolonged exposure of the elements within the culture, as seen in images. Please contact Sidney Lee (sidney.lee@bonhams.com) for related condition report images.