Provenance:
Siddharth K. Bhansali Collection, New Orleans
Carlton Rochell Asian Art, New York
American Private Collection, acquired in 2014
Published:
Pratapaditya Pal, The Elegant Image: Bronzes from the Indian Subcontinent in the Siddharth K. Bhansali Collection, New Orleans, 2011, no. 102
Exhibited:
“The Elegant Image: Bronzes from the Indian Subcontinent in the Siddharth K. Bhansali Collection,” New Orleans Museum of Art, August 5-October 23, 2011
The corpulent elephant-headed divinity is seated in rajalilsana on a lotus throne. The molded rectangular pedestal is inhabited by his recumbent rat vehicle at right. Ganesha’s wife (pushti) is seated in his lap and smiling with an animated expression. His eight arms radiate around him and hold a variety of attributes including the wheel, lotus, conch, battle-axe, and rosary. Ganesha is attired in a dhoti, elaborate jewelry, upavita, and crown. The aureole is decorated with pairs of open-jawed makaras with a stylized sun and moon at the top and bordered on the outer edge of the arch by a row of stylized flames.
