G696 SANDSTONE RELIEF OF SADASHIVA

CENTRAL INDIA, PROBABLY MADHYA PRADESH

CHANDELLA PERIOD

10^TH – 11^TH 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.