A SANDSTONE BUST OF VISHNU


NORTH INDIA, 9TH CENTURY 11 in. (28 cm) high
|That the sculpture represents Vishnu can be discerned from the tall miter, four arms, and the faint srivatsa mark on the chest. Vishnu's face is carved with gentle features below a ring of hair curls. He wears a nice cohesive ensemble of braided and beaded jewelry. The construction of the remaining part of a floral garland around his shoulders compares favorably with a relief of a river goddess, c.900, in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and a complete 9th century Vishnu shrine in the Norton Simon Museum (Pal, Indian Sculpture Vol.II, 1988, p.121, no.48l; and Pal, Art from the Indian Subcontinent, Pasadena, 2003, p.133, no.1, respectively). Provenance Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection, New York Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 14 October 1964, lot 105 Estate of Dorothy Beskind (1917-2014), New York Thence by descent