A GREEN STONE STELE OF GANESHA


WESTERN INDIA, CIRCA 17TH CENTURY25 in. (63.5 cm) high
|This lively and rather lithe form of Ganesha dances with relative ease. He is attended by four ganas and a playful rat reaching for his raised right foot. Stylistically, the arched back panel with broad lotus leaves carved in low relief, the simplified jewelry, and the stele's green stone, compare with a pair of celestial musicians in the Norton Simon Museum (Pal, Art from the Indian Subcontinent, Pasadena, 2003, pp.160-1, nos.120-1). Pal dates these to the late 15th century, and they are related to another in the Reitberg Museum (Lohuizen-de Leeuw, Indische Skulpturen, Zurich, 1964, no. 33). Another related stele of Vishnu and Lakshmi is attributed c.1500-1700 and thought to be made of chlorite or serpentine (Cummins, Vishnu, New York, 2011, p.95, no.26). Provenance Collection of John Edward Marshall, Massachusetts, acquired in 1968 Thence by descent