A Highly Important Group of Shiva and Parvati: Somaskandamurti Copper alloy South India, Chola Period

The superbly modeled figures, each cast separately, depicting Shiva and his consort Parvati, both seated in lalitasana (the posture of royal ease) on lotus pedestals; Shiva with his upper arms holding his attributes the battle-axe and antelope and his lower arms displaying the gestures of beneficence abhaya and ahuya varada mudras, his powerfully-sculpted torso adorned with necklaces and a sacred thread, his short veshti secured at the waist with an ornamented girdle, his face with large eyes, aquiline nose and pursed lips bearing a deeply meditative expression, the slightly bulging forehead concealing his third eye, his hair arranged in a looped, conical jatamukuta over his head; his graceful consort Parvati by his side, bejeweled with necklaces and clad in a diaphanous dhoti secured by an elaborate girdle at her waist, her hands displaying varada and kataka hasta mudras, her expressive face with delicately modeled features bearing a gentle smile, her hair arranged in undulating curls at her forehead, surmounted by a domed crown.

Christie's New York, March 23, 1999, lot 35
Robert Hatfield Ellsworth Collection, New York, 1982
Pan Asian Collection, before 1967
Dr. J.R. Belmont Collection, Basel, before 1955

This magnificent sculpture carries a storied provenance, having been a part of world-famous collections of Indian and Southeast Asian Art in the twentieth century. It was first acquired by the late Dr. J. R. Belmont, a visionary collector who amassed one of the pre-eminent collections of Indian sculpture and miniature paintings in Europe in the 1950s. During the period 1960-70 part of the Belmont collection, including the present sculpture, passed into the care of the Pan Asian Collection formed by the late Christian Humann, who assembled one of the largest and finest holdings of South and Southeast Asian art in the world. In 1982 part of the Pan Asian collection was acquired by Robert Hatfield Ellsworth another legendary connoisseur who created an exquisite collection of Chinese, Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Art. In 1999 the sculpture was acquired by its present owners and it has graced their collection for over a decade. The upcoming auction offers a rare opportunity to private and institutional collectors to acquire a masterpiece of Indian art with impeccable quality and provenance.

Bronze images created between the ninth through the thirteenth centuries in South India are widely hailed as masterpieces of world art. During this period most of the South Indian peninsula was under the rule of the mighty Chola dynasty. At the height of their power, the Cholas controlled a vast swathe of territory that included not only southern India but also extended to cover Sri Lanka and the Maldive Islands. The Chola period is notable for its unparalleled cultural and artistic achievements and is widely considered to be a 'golden age' in Indian history. Indeed the standards set in bronze casting, sculpture, painting and architecture continue to define these traditions in South India to this day. Chola monarchs were active patrons of the arts, building numerous temples and commissioning hundreds of sculptures in stone and bronze for the purpose of worship in these edifices. It was during this era of powerful patronage buoyed by unfettered economic prosperity that some of the finest Indian stone and bronze sculpture was produced, of which the present image is an exemplar.

Shiva, the great Ascetic God was adopted by the Cholas as their patron deity or kulanayaka. Revered as the Supreme Transcendental Being, Shiva is one of the principal deities in the Hindu pantheon along with Brahma (the Creator) and Vishnu (the Preserver). Chola emperors constructed hundreds of temples and shrines dedicated to Shiva throughout their lands, which were embellished with images of the deity in his multifarious forms; Nataraja, the Lord in Cosmic Dance, Bhikshatana, the Enchanting Mendicant, Dakshinamurti, the Lord as the Great Preacher, Tripuravijayi, the Victorious One, and as seen in the present sculpture, Somaskanda, The Benevolent Lord with his consort Uma and his son Skanda.

Bronze images such as these were objects of devotion in Shaivite shrines. The creation of such images for the purpose of worship in festivals (Utsavamurti) was prescribed in Holy Scriptures known as the Agamas. As part of prescribed ritual practice, the images were lustrated with water, honey, butter and milk and rubbed down with ash. They were then anointed with sandal paste and vermilion, clothed and garlanded, placed on palanquins and carried on the shoulders of chanting devotees in a joyous processional worship so that all worshippers had the opportunity to gain a darshan or view of the holy icons and partake of their grace.

The production of bronze sculptures began in the eighth century during the Pallava period but the art of metal casting reached its apogee under the patronage of the Chola monarchs. Chola bronzes were made from wax models using the 'lost wax' or cire perdue process. The finest bronzes comprised an alloy of at least five metals (panchaloham), which included copper, tin, lead, gold and silver. The fact that these were solid cast indicates the extent of the expense undertaken in the production of these ritual icons. Besides the skill required in casting, Chola craftsmen perfected the harmony of line and form in these images creating some of the finest freestanding sculptures in existence.

Centuries after these bronzes were created, their technical mastery enraptured another master sculptor of his age – Auguste Rodin, who eloquently praised the craftsmen that captured '...the stream of life' and '...the divinity of the human form' in these unparalleled sculptures. Writing about the Shiva Nataraja in the temple of Tiruvalangadu in 1913 he says, "Above all, there are things that other people do not see: unknown depths, the wellsprings of life. There is grace in elegance; above grace there is modeling." (V. Dehejia et al, Chola: Sacred Bronzes of Southern India, London, 2006, p. 24)

According to Shaiva Siddhanta philosophy, Shiva's infinite power remains concealed until he is in the company of his consort Uma (Sa Uma). In her presence he reveals his benevolence and through her his grace is comprehended. Images of Shiva together with Uma are known as Umasahitamurti and with the addition of their infant Skanda the image becomes Somaskandamurti. Since Shiva was believed to confer his blessings upon devotees most readily in this form it was imperative for every temple to have a Somaskandamurti and this iconographic representation was extremely popular. An early iconographic representation of this form of Shiva is a charming stone relief of circa 7^th century date, from the Pallava period, now in the collection of the National Museum, New Delhi (S. Kramrisch, Manifestations of Shiva, Philadelphia, 1981, cat. 55, p. 67). In this tender family portrait we see the divine couple seated in a relaxed posture upon a plinth, with the infant Skanda on his mother Uma's lap. The iconography was conventionalized in bronze images such as the magnificent 8^th century sculpture in the collection of the Government Museum, Madras (K. Khandalavala (ed.), Indian Bronze Masterpieces, New Delhi 1988, fig. 4, p. 145) where Shiva and Uma are seated upon a tiered plinth or bhadrapeedam, but the diminutive Skanda who would have been placed between them is now missing.

In a complete circa 11^th century Somaskandamurti of the early Chola period, now in the collection of the Thanjavur Art Gallery (S. Ratnasabapathy, The Thanjavur Art Gallery Bronze Sculptures, Thanjavur, 1982, cat. 34, p. 101), we see how the earlier, slender forms of the Pallava style have given way to a more robust modeling. The separately cast images of Shiva and Uma are seated upon lotus pedestals, Skanda stands upon one, and all three are affixed to the peedam by means of protruding tangs beneath the figures which are inserted into the plinth. A later, 13^th century representation, also in the Thanjavur Art Gallery (ibid., cat 36, p. 105) is replete with a flaming prabha or aureole encircling the figures.

The present sculpture exhibits artistic elements consistent with the later Chola period of the 13th century. Shiva's strong muscular torso, aquiline nose and conical jatamukuta are all stylistically consistent with bronzes from this period. Uma's sensuously modeled figure is remarkable for its realism with her soft, pliant belly spilling over her girdle creating the illusion of flesh. Her stomach is accentuated by three lines (trivali tarangini), another late Chola convention, further supporting a 13th century date for the sculpture (see R. Kannan, Manual on the Bronzes in the Government Museum, Chennai, 2003, p. 11).

From an artistic and iconographic standpoint this arresting sculpture embodies the essential qualities of Shiva and Uma. Their union is a symbol of completeness and unity, "...like a word and its meaning." (S. Kramrisch, Manifestations of Shiva, Philadelphia, 1981, xviii) Shiva's expansive, powerful chest seems to be inflated with breath. His face with its prominent features radiates a calm divinity. His mismatched earrings symbolize the incorporation of both male and female energies into a single Godhead. The sculpture radiates not only Shiva's beauty but also his majesty and strength as the immutable Omniscient Being who generates the eternal cycles of creation and destruction. Uma's lithe, supple form is an embodiment of beauty and perfection while her gently smiling face emanates spiritual and esthetic joy. Her body is turned slightly inwards to face her lord Shiva, cementing their union and binding them together in an everlasting image of power, majesty, benevolence and transcendence.