An impressive large Indian bronze figure of the Goddess Parvati

India, late 18th or early 19th century

Parvati in her beautiful womanly form is standing in an elegant tribhanga on a lotus base. A transparent dhoti clings in wavy folds to her legs.Her hips are adorned with numerous belts and pearl strings hanging on her thighs. Her arms, writs, fingers, ankles and even toes are decorated with numerous bands and rings. Her hair is pinned up high and embellished with jewels and pearls. Her youthful body is shown in all its sensuous beauty.

H. 75 cm / Weight 1976 grams

Provenance:
Dr. Hans Wolfgang Schumann (b. 1928), indologist, ethnologist and student of comparative religion. Schumann became a Buddhist and was the author of numerous reference books on India and on Buddhism. He lived in India since 1960, was German Consul General in Bombay from 1988 till 1993. In 2000 he was awarded the Rabindranath Thakur Culture Price for Literature in India.

Parvati is wife of the dancing Shiva. As many married couples, among men as well as among gods, they quarrelled, they quarrelled a lot. No wonder their child was Karttikeya, the God of war. The other son of Parvati (or of Shiva) was Ganesha, the remover of obstacles, who ended up with an elephants head as a result of another quarrel between Parvati and Shiva.