A RARE BLACK STONE STELE OF PARVATI, PALA EMPIRENortheastern India, 10th-12th century. Well carved, standing on a lotus dais raised on a plinth, her four hands holding a sword, lotus, disc, and small child. Her serene face with almond-shaped eyes below gently arched brows and full lips forming a calm smile, backed by a halo. The figure flanked by two chauri-bearing attendants standing in tribhanga.Provenance: Christie’s Amsterdam, 24 May 2006, lot 661, sold for EUR 4,560 or approx.EUR 6,700 (adjusted for inflation at the time of writing). A noted collector from Belgium, acquired from the above.Condition: Very good condition,mensurate with age. Extensive wear, losses, nicks, scratches, signs of weathering and erosion, and encrustations.Dimensions: Height 49 cm (excl. stand) and 54 cm (incl. stand)Mounted on a modern metal stand. (2)Parvati is the Hindu goddess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, devotion, and motherhood. She is one of the central deities of the goddess-oriented sect called Shaktism and the chief goddess in Shaivism. Along with Lakshmi and Saraswati, she forms the Tridevi.Literatureparison:Compare a related stone stele, described as depicting a “deity, perhaps Ambika”, 71.1 cm high, dated approx. 900-1000, in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, object number B60S124+.