A little bit of long-lost Indian history finally resurfaced at Macey & Sons’ recent Antiquities auction in Hong Kong, when a solid bronze statue of Parvati, the Hindu fertility goddess, was expected to go for at least HK$850,000.
Dating back to the 13th century during the late Chola-early Vijaynagar period, a time when bronze sculpting approached something of a pinnacle in India, the statue’s depiction of Parvati captures the very essence of this most worshipped of Hindu goddesses, with her conical crown recalling the country’s more mountainous landscapes, while her right hand is extended in her characteristic ‘flower-holding’ pose or mudra. Of all the divinities of the Hindu pantheon, she is among the highest-regarded, with her intervention as the goddess of love frequently beseeched by the faithful.
Standing 58cm tall and fashioned via a lost wax technique, the piece was almost certainly commissioned by one of the Chola monarchs, rulers known for their keen patronage of their arts. Many such tributes to the goddess Parvati are a common sight in majority of India’s Hindu temples to this very day.