204 - EARLY STONEWARE GANESHA NEPAL 15TH CENTURY

EARLY STONEWARE GANESHA NEPAL 15TH CENTURY Dimensions: Height 11 cm Wide 9 cm Depth 6 cm Weight: 743 grams This compact image of Ganesha is defined by the rounded elephant head and a trunk sweeping boldly across the front of the figure. The body and attendant forms have been reduced to broad, almost architectural masses, their contours softened by extensive wear. Blackened areas alternate with earthy red and ochre tones across the irregular surface, while losses and encrustations obscure much of the original detail. The result is a remarkably tactile object whose sacred identity survives even as its finer modelling has become difficult to read. Ganesha, the elephant-headed son of Shiva and Parvati, is invoked at the beginning of undertakings and revered as a remover of obstacles and patron of wisdom. His image appears in an extraordinary range of materials and scales, from elaborate temple sculpture to intimate devotional objects. Its worn, simplified presence offers a particularly direct expression of a deity whose distinctive silhouette remains unmistakable.