A VERY LARGE AND MASSIVE GRAY SCHIST RELIEF WITH THE COSMIC VISHNU, NORTHERN INDIA, RAJASTHAN, 10TH-11TH CENTURY

Published: Simon Ray, Indian and Islamic Works of Art, April 2005, no. 7, pp. 20-23.

Finely carved in relief with four horizontal rows of figures and with a further row along the sloping edges to each side. The central niche projects forward giving prominence to Vishnu, holding his attributes - a conch (sankha), a mace (gada), a disk (cakra) and a lotus (padma), wearing a crown and backed by a nimbus.

Provenance: British private collection. Simon Ray Ltd., London, 2005. The collection of A. John Lippitt, Hampshire, United Kingdom, acquired from the above. A copy of the original invoice signed by Simon Ray, addressed to John Lippitt, C.B., dated 17 March 2005, and describing the piece as ‘Vishnu in his cosmic form. Northern India (Rajasthan), 10th/11th century’, accompanies this lot. Simon Ray Ltd. is a noted London based art dealer focusing on Indian and Islamic works of art, who once worked for Michael Spink and Francesca Galloway. John Lippitt (1928-2019) was a civil servant who dominated British industrial policy in the 1970s and became a commercial negotiator for the General Electric Company in East Asia. He was involved in major projects including the Guangdong power station in China, the Pergau Dam in Malaysia, and in defense and high technology projects all over Southeast Asia. Lippitt was said to be a tough negotiator, and his Chinese counterparts gave him the nickname ‘The man behind the jade screen’.
Condition: Excllent condition, commensurate with age. Some old wear, signs of weathering and erosion, small nicks, losses and soil encrustations. Displaying exceptionally well and thus highly recommended.

Weight: 49.5 kg (incl. base)
Dimensions: Length 90 cm, Height 42 cm (incl. base)

Mounted to an associated modern base. (2)

The top row contains seven emaciated sages (rishis), the second row figural forms of the nine planets (navagraha), the third row sun gods and the sons of Aditi (adityas), and the bottom row fourteen indras and celestial musicians and garland bearers.

Vishnu is depicted here as Vishvarupa or ‘all forms Vishnu’, which represents his cosmic form where he encompasses all other deities. This piece is a cosmic representation of Vishnu as presented in the Bhagavad Gita, and also in a further passage of the Mahabharata where Vishnu/Krishna appears to Yudhisthira/Dharmaraja and explains who he is ‘In me reside all the 14 lokas, 14 indras, 12 adityas, 11 rudras, 8 vasus, 7 rishis, the earth, the sky, rivers and mountains. Saying thus the Lord displays his vihvarupa to Dharmaraja’.

Expert’s note: This panel would have been part of a larger Torana, which would have surmounted a central sculpture of Vishnu, with two vertical panels depicting avatars to either side. A similar example can be seen in Susan L. Huntington, The Art of Ancient India, p. 499, fig. 20.62. Traditionally Vishnu is associated with ten avatars, but the number and identities vary from text to text. In the 9^th and 10^th century the softness and animation of figures gave way to harder, crisper forms, with exquisite details. The figures here are more abstract due to their small size and change in style from the earlier naturalistic forms.

Literature comparison:
Compare a related Vaishnavite architectural surround, Rajasthan, 11^th-12^th century, at Sotheby’s New York, 20 September 2002, lot 36.