STÈLE EN GRÈS BEIGE REPRÉSENTANT UN ROI PORTANT... Lot 121

STÈLE EN GRÈS BEIGE REPRÉSENTANT UN ROI PORTANT UNE OFFRANDE INDE CENTRALE, KHAJURAHO, VERS XIE SIÈCLE 68.6 cm (27 in.) high Footnotes: A BUFF SANDSTONE STELE OF A KING WITH AN OFFERING CENTRAL INDIA, KHAJURAHO, CIRCA 11TH CENURY 印度中部 克久拉霍 約十一世紀 黃砂岩君王獻祭碑 Provenance: Spink & Son Ltd., London Sotheby's, New York, 23 March 1995, lot 17 Willard G. Clark Collection, Hanford, California Carlton Rochell Asian Art, New York American Private Collection, acquired in 2004 A noble male figure sits in equipoise on a cushioned lotus seat over a tall pedestal base. His face with curated curls of hair, neatly trimmed moustache, and discerning eyes bears a countenance of intent. His body, detailed with ornamental jewelry and a billowing scarf, sits in dhyanasana in limber stillness showing great discipline. Elbows pointed out and legs wide, his symmetry commands reverence. Yet, as he delicately holds an offering cupped between his two palms, he too makes a gesture indicative of veneration. Fashioned both with reference to the image of a god and of the devout worshipper, this well preserved and remarkably rare sculpture presents the portrait of a Chandella king in the guise of a divine ruler. Beginning in the 9th century, the Chandellas rose to power in the region of Khajuraho in Bundelkhand shifting the suzerainty once held by their ruling neighbors, the Gurjara-Pratiharas. Like other feudatories in North India, the Chandellas capitalized on the weakening position of the Gurjara-Pratiharas, establishing their own principality in the region up until their own downfall in the 13th century. Asserting their divine origins and dynastic name after Chandra, the ancient god of the moon, the Chandellas flourished as a rich and vibrant culture whose kings actively tended to the arts, poetry, and civic projects. Their most notable contributions encompass a legacy of harmoniously integrated sculpture within their architectural designs, almost all exclusively dedicated to religious ends. The images manifested on these Nagara-style temple facades depict lavish and exuberant activities. Carved sculptures of angular contours and hard modeling, both on the interiors and exteriors of the walls show panoramas of daily life, war, love, dancers, celestial and divine beings including the matrikas, or seven mothers, nagis, nymphs, animals, female attendants, courtesans, musicians, devotees, and erotic couples. These depictions overlap in dynamic and enchanting scenes all across the temple walls, revealing undercurrents of feudal beliefs in the power of magic, the gallantry of warfare, amorous coupling, and tantra (ibid, 1986, 168-169). Everything about these temples conveys embellishment and elaboration both in form and subject. All commissioned by these Chandella kings, this medieval period included 'exaggerated and colorful accounts of princely patrons', and an 'egotistic display...among princes and feudatories to excel others in building ever larger and grander temples adorned with sculptural profusion.' (ibid, 1986, p. 160) These architectural feats and densely packed sculptural scenes of celestial and earthly realms set upon the walls show competing grandeur and the universal wealth and power of these kings. Establishing their sovereignty, Chandella rulers including Yashovarman (r. 925-50) and his son Dhanga (r. 950-999), aligned themselves with the Brahmins and the Vedic order, depending on them to recognize their social status (V. Dehejia, Indian Art, London 1997, p. 168). They built large sandstone temples dedicated to these Hindu gods, including Dhanga's own temple, Visvanatha, completed in 999, which pays homage to Shiva. His later successor and the most prosperous of the Chandella rulers, Vidyadhara (r.1017-1029) also by inscription identifies himself as a great devotee of Shiva within the largest and grandest temples of Khajuraho, Kandariya Mahadeva. These sandstone structures of successively raised peaked roofs positioned on a large, raised plinth 'which by its [Visvanatha Temple] architectural grandeur and sculptural exuberance easily impresses as a monument fit for a king' (D. Krishna, Khajuraho, New Delhi, 1986, p. 71). An image amidst the walls of these temple depicts a large multi-armed Shiva seated on top of a raised block, in a similar fashion to that of the sculpture depicted here (Getty Images 546145503). Like the Chandella king, Shiva too sits with both legs crossed. Their adornments of beaded dhoti set around a full abdomen, triple strand necklace which falls in a u-shape over the chest, the collar of pendant beads, and hooped earrings hanging from pendulous lobes closely resemble one another. Like many of the deities at Khajuraho, including a standing Shiva at Visvanatha temple on the south wall, the Chandella king wears a diamond-like mark on his chest, an auspicious symbol deliberately identifying his divine position (ibid, 1986, p 129). Compared to the seated Shiva and to other sculptural depiction