AN INDIAN SANDSTONE CARVING OF THE HEAD OF A HINDU DEVA 10TH/11TH CENTURY Probably depicting Vishnu

AN INDIAN SANDSTONE CARVING OF THE HEAD OF A HINDU DEVA

10TH/11TH CENTURY

Probably depicting Vishnu, the second god of the Trimurti and preserver of the universe, his downcast almond-shaped eyes with incised pupils and set beneath arched eyebrows, wearing an elaborate karanda mukuta decorated with three kirtimukha disgorging strings of pearls, with a lotus flower carved to the top of the headdress, all raised on a modern stand, 19cm.

Provenance: formerly the collection of Mr and Mrs J M van Dongen, The Netherlands; and then the collection of Mr Richard Nathanson (d.2018), London. Together with authentication documentation from Marcel Nies Oriental Art, dated 9th January 2017. A copy of the Nies documentation is available.