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Not currently on display at the V&A

Sculpture

Figure
15th century or 16th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The god Siva appears in many different and opposed forms. He is both the creator and destroyer, the wild huntsman and the teacher of the arts and sciences, the frightener of men and the friend of men. Here he is disguised as a hunter to test the prowess of Arjuna. A standing male figure holding in the right hand the hilt of a long dagger and in the left a bow. He is bearded and dressed in a kind of leaf-skirt with sash, channavira-type harness, waistband and heavy type of sacred cord. On his head he wears a kind of coronet apparently made of leaves and fronted with a broad fillet which extends to the shoulders on each side. He stands on a double-lotus pedestal which is cast in one piece with a square base, the latter with uprights for the support of an arched-surround or torana, now missing.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleSculpture (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Brief description
Standing figure of Siva Kiratarjunmurti, bronze, Kerala, 15th century or 16th century.
Physical description
The god Siva appears in many different and opposed forms. He is both the creator and destroyer, the wild huntsman and the teacher of the arts and sciences, the frightener of men and the friend of men. Here he is disguised as a hunter to test the prowess of Arjuna. A standing male figure holding in the right hand the hilt of a long dagger and in the left a bow. He is bearded and dressed in a kind of leaf-skirt with sash, channavira-type harness, waistband and heavy type of sacred cord. On his head he wears a kind of coronet apparently made of leaves and fronted with a broad fillet which extends to the shoulders on each side. He stands on a double-lotus pedestal which is cast in one piece with a square base, the latter with uprights for the support of an arched-surround or torana, now missing.
Dimensions
  • Height: 29.5cm
Gallery label
SIVA KIRATARJUNAMURTI Bronze Kerala, South India Circa 16th century IS 43-1887(about 1990)
Credit line
Presented by Miss Malcolm, 67 Sloane Street
Object history
Given in 1887 by Miss Malcolm of 67, Sloane Street, London.
Production
South India

Attribution note: Although belonging to a regional school of metalwork less skilled and sophisticated than the Tanjore school, this is nonetheless a fine specimen of its kind. The style seems to have something in common with Vijayanagar murals at Lepakshi. Nagaswamy mentions a "similar representation found at the Padmanabhaswami temple at Trivandrum". A striking feature of the technique is the almost total absence of chiselling.
Subjects depicted
Bibliographic references
  • R. Nagaswamy, " Kongu Bronzes in the V & A Museum", Lait Kala, Nos. 14-14, 1967-69, fig.9. Pratapaditya Pal, "Some Interesting South Indian Bronzes", Archives of Asian Art, XXIII, 1969-70, pp.24-30. Guy, John: 'Indian Temple Sculpture', London, V & A Publication, 2007, p.141, pl.159. ISBN 9781851775095.
  • Balraj Khanna and George Michell. Human and divine : 2000 years of Indian sculpture. London: Hayward Gallery, c.2000. ISBN: 1853322105 Cat.47, p.44
  • Haworth-Booth, Mark; Indian Sculpture: A Travelling Exhibition, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 1971 no. 64
  • Haworth-Booth, Mark; Indian Sculpture: A Travelling Exhibition, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 1971 No. 64
Collection
Accession number
IS.43-1887

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Record createdOctober 11, 2001
Record URL
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