An inscribed copper alloy figure of Appar, South India, 18th century, and a copper alloy figure of Radha, East India, 19th century

Acquired in India in the 1950s, and thence by descent.

Bronze images such as these were objects of devotion in Shaivite shrines. Shiva was the kulanayaka or dynastic patron deity of the Chola Emperors. They built shrines dedicated to his worship throughout their lands which were repositories for numerous bronze images of the Lord and his pantheon including the nayanmars, a group of sixty-three Shaiva saints who are widely venerated in South India. These holy men traveled throughout the land singing hymns in praise of the Lord Shiva and their songs and poems form a rich corpus of devotional literature constituting the core of the Tamil sacred canon, known as the Tevaram.

The most famous of the nayanmars was the child saint Sambandar who is reputed to have lived in the seventh century. The saint Appar, subject of the present image, who was older, was his contemporary and it is believed that the title Appar, or “revered father,” was conferred upon him by Sambandar. Appar was a Jain monk who converted to Shaivism and is thus portrayed with a shaved head. He approached Shiva as a humble servant and performed menial tasks in his temples including clearing the weeds that sprang up within the temple premises.