427 - SEATED GANESHA STONE INDIA 19TH CENTURY

SEATED GANESHA STONE INDIA 19TH CENTURY Dimensions: Height 9,8 cm Wide 6,8 cm Depth 2,5 cm Weight: 190 grams A small Indian stone devotional image of Ganesha seated frontally on a lotus pedestal beneath a foliate arch. The elephant-headed deity is shown with a rounded belly and multiple arms, the compact figure filling the shallow niche almost completely. Despite its modest scale, the carving preserves a lively interplay between the curving trunk, projecting arms and ornamental surround. Ganesha is among the most widely revered Hindu deities, invoked as remover of obstacles and patron of auspicious beginnings, learning and enterprise. Small portable images such as this were well suited to household devotion, where the deity's immediately recognisable elephant head made the image both intimate and iconographically clear. The pale, worn stone and softened carving give the sculpture an appealing devotional character. Rather than monumental refinement, its strength lies in the concentrated composition and the sense of an image made to be approached closely and repeatedly.