4 - INDIAN GODDESS BRONZE 16TH CENTURY

INDIAN GODDESS BRONZE 16TH CENTURY Dimensions: Height 4,7 cm Wide 4,5 cm Depth 3 cm Weight: 48 grams A diminutive cast-bronze image of a female deity seated within an ornate architectural shrine. She appears beneath a foliated horseshoe-shaped arch rising from a stepped pedestal, wearing a high headdress, earrings and necklaces. One hand holds a rounded attribute while the opposite arm is partly lost, and the openwork frame creates a surprisingly elaborate silhouette at this intimate scale. Architectural frames of this kind translate the setting of a temple niche into miniature form, enclosing the deity within a self-contained sacred space suitable for private worship. Dark green and brown patination is accompanied by extensive surface encrustation, wear and corrosion. These age-related changes soften the fine detail but preserve the essential relationship between deity, pedestal and ornamental arch.