Provenance:
Peter Marks, New York
American Private Collection, acquired in 1973
Vishnu stands on a molded pedestal in the calm, four-armed form used for divine images across early medieval India, his weight settled evenly over both legs and his face composed in the faint half-smile characteristic of Kashmiri devotional sculpture. The smooth, closely modeled surfaces of the chest and shoulders reflect Kashmir's synthesis of Gandharan naturalism with the classicism of Gupta India.
A tall, jeweled kiritamukuta rises above tightly coiled curls, framed by a plain circular halo. Ribbons flare out on either side of the halo, disrupting the strict symmetry of the composition. The torso is lightly modeled, suggesting strength without bulk, and the sheer dhoti falls in narrow, vertical folds across the legs. Necklaces, armlets, and earrings are cut in fine low relief, and a beaded sacred thread crosses the chest on the diagonal.
The conch survives in the upper left hand, and the missing hand would once have held a lotus. His lower arms reach down to two small attendants at his sides, personifications of his own emblems. One is Gadadevi, goddess of the mace; the other, Chakrapurusha, the discus given human form. Both incline their faces upward, beneath his open palms.
At the center of the base, between Vishnu's feet, a diminutive Prithvi rises from the earth. Her presence marks Vishnu as preserver and sustainer of the cosmic order.
