The Earth Goddess Parvati, Consort of Shiva
Artist/Culture
South Indian
DateChola Dynasty, 1100–1200s
Mediumbronze
Dimensions50.1 cm (19 3/4 in.)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1928.26
DescriptionFreestanding bronze female figure with a crown of matted locks and sacred thread that passes between her breasts. Globular breasts, hips, and thighs. Holding her head almost straight, she stands with both feet on a lotus pedestal, her body in graceful S-curve contrapposto, or the triple-bend (tribhanga) pose, with bends at the hip, knee, and neck. Her left hand extends along her left thigh, and her right hand is fashioned to hold a lotus flower or bud. Heavy proportions and shot waistline suggesting a regional style and post-Chola date. The figure’s hair and earrings connect her broad, heavy crown with her shoulders, forming a compact unit, which is balanced by the similar mass in the lower torso. The simplified treatment of the brows, eyes, and nose as well as the stiff folds of the garment implies the reworking of established stylistic features.Label TextIn the first half of the Chola period bronze casters created some of the greatest masterpieces of Indian art. The grace and beauty of this icon, whose pose recalls the movements of the dance, is a part of that tradition. Unlike Indian stone sculpture which was often part of an architectural setting, bronze images like the one shown here are complete in themselves. Carried in procession, they were covered with clothing, jewels, and flower garlands, which hid the sensuous form that is the embodiment of the South Indian ideal of beauty. This posture, the crown of matted locks (jatamukuta), and the sacred cord that passes between her breasts are attributes of Parvati (Daughter of the Mountain). She is consort to Shiva, one of the three primary Hindu gods, and she functions as his sakti (female energy), embodying the active principle and strength of the deity. Parvati also represents the benevolent aspect of the Great Mother, the ancient Indian fertility goddess.ProvenanceBourgeois Galleries, N.Y.
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