342 - SEATED GANESHA INDONESIA STONE 12 TH CENTURY

SEATED GANESHA INDONESIA STONE 12 TH CENTURY Dimensions: Height 20 cm Wide 11 cm Depth 8,5 cm Weight: 2313 grams A compact stone relief of Ganesha seated frontally within a tall rectangular slab. The elephant-headed deity fills almost the entire field, his long trunk descending and curving across the body while multiple arms rise around him in a dense, symmetrical arrangement. A high headdress and broad ears frame the face, and the figure rests above a tiered base with lotus-like mouldings. The carving is softened by age and wear, yet the principal iconographic features remain immediately legible. Traces of reddish pigment or ritual colouring survive around the head and in recessed areas. Ganesha travelled particularly well across regions because his identity is so unmistakable: the elephant head, pot-bellied body and multiple arms made him recognisable even when local sculptural styles transformed proportions and details. His role as remover of obstacles and patron of auspicious beginnings also ensured unusually broad devotional appeal. What gives this stone image its character today is the meeting of iconography and weathering. The once sharper carving has become rounded and tactile, while pigment and deposits remain caught in the recesses. Rather than diminishing the figure, that softened surface gives the relief the feeling of an object with a long ritual and material history.