G696 SANDSTONE RELIEF OF SADASHIVA
CENTRAL INDIA, PROBABLY MADHYA PRADESH
CHANDELLA PERIOD
10TH – 11TH CENTURY
H. 44.5 CMS, 17 ½ INS
An unusual light buff sandstone relief depicting a multi-headed Sadashiva, seated on a high throne and surrounded by attendants and gandharvas (celestial deities), with a small figure of a recumbent elephant at his feet.
The multi-headed Sadashiva (‘eternal, supreme Siva’) is the supreme form of the principal Hindu deity.
This sculpture is reminiscent of a seated Sadashiva in the Kandariya Mahadeva temple at the great, Khajuraho complex in Madhya Pradesh- for an archive photo of this image please see the following link:
Collections-Virtual Museum of Images and Sounds (vmis.in)
PROVENANCE: Private English collection.
Purchased by the previous owner from Robert Lewin of Brook Street Gallery in the 1960s or 1970s.