A PINK SANDSTONE LIFESIZE HEAD OF LAKSHMI, MATHURA Northern India, Uttar Pradesh, 2^nd century. Superbly carved with a fine expression, marked by heavy-lidded eyes below gently arched eyebrows centered by an urna, flanked by long pendulous earlobes suspending large and distinct cylindrical earrings. The neatly incised hair arranged in wavy strands with a beaded string along the center terminating in a lotus flower above the forehead.

Provenance: From an old private collection in Niagara Falls, acquired in India during a honeymoon trip in the 1950s, thence by descent. Anthony M. Lee, Toronto, acquired from the above. Over the past 40 years Anthony M. Lee has been an art consultant, gallery owner, and collector. He developed Asian art departments for several auction houses and has worked with almost every major museum collection of Asian art in North America. He is the author of two books on Zen Buddhism and one on the Japanese tea ceremony.
Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear, losses, minor signs of weathering and erosion, small nicks, few structural cracks.

Weight: 10.2 kg (excl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 28.5 cm (excl. stand) and 36.5 cm (incl. stand)

Mounted to a modern metal stand. (2)

Literature comparison: Compare a related sandstone statue of Lakshmi, also attributed to Mathura and dated to the 2^nd century, in the collection of the National Museum, New Delhi. Compare a related sandstone pillar with a yakshi, also attributed to Mathura and dated to the 2^nd century, in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, accession number 1965.250. Compare a related sandstone relief depicting Hariti, also attributed to Mathura and dated to the 2^nd century, in the collection of the Ashmolean Museum Oxford, accession number EA1971.36.