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A RARE CEREMONIAL COPPER SHIELD DEPICTING VIRABHADRA, 17TH-18TH CENTURY
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12月16日 晚上6点 开拍 /6天18小时
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A RARE CEREMONIAL COPPER SHIELD DEPICTING VIRABHADRA, 17TH-18TH CENTURY

Decca, Southern India. The four-armed deity stands on raised sandals within a lobed niche, surmounted by a kirtimukha mask above a five-headed naga hood. Richly adorned with jewelry, the deity holds a sword, shield, bow, and arrow in his four hands. At the upper corners appear incised images of Nandi and a Shiva linga, while the lower corners feature diminutive figures of Daksha and Sati, each with hands folded in anjali mudra, rendered in high relief. The reverse bears a substantial handle, and the corners are pierced for suspension.

Provenance: The collection of Paul Atkinson. Paul Atkinson is a passionate and wide-ranging collector whose career has spanned over five decades. Known for his boundless curiosity and entrepreneurial spirit, Atkinson began his journey in the antiques trade during the 1970s, sourcing pieces from regional sales and eventually opening his first shop in Matlock, Derbyshire. At one of his first auctions as a 20-year-old in 1970, a veteran dealer came over to Atkinson at a farm sale and said, “you think that you have joined a business, don't you?” Atkinson responded, “Well, this isn't a business – it's an illness from which you never recover”. His eye for the unique and rare quickly led him to the international stage, exporting English furniture to the United States and Europe and expanding into fields such as Pre-Colombian, tribal, and ethnographic art. Over the years, Atkinson built an eclectic collection that includes Grand Tour bronzes, Anglo-Indian carvings, Ottoman arms, African masks, and European furniture. His reputation was solidified with the opening of a gallery in the Louvre des Antiquaires in Paris, and later through his restoration of Sydnope Hall, once the home of Charles Darwin’s family. Together with his wife Vivien, an experienced art market professional, Atkinson later relocated to Mallorca, where they opened a major gallery catering to a distinguished international clientele.
Condition: Very good condition with usual wear, a thin crack, and some remnants of the casting core to the backside. Fine patina with puja (prayer) wear.

Weight: 826 g (excl. stand)
Dimensions: Size 21.7 x 12.4 cm (excl. stand)

With a modern wood stand. (2)

Expert’s note: A handle is fitted to the reverse, a relatively rare feature indicating that this plaque was likely intended not for a domestic altar but for temple use. The handle would have allowed a temple Brahmin to hold and ritually present the plaque to devotees, moving it in a clockwise motion before bringing it closer so that worshippers could feel the divine energy emanating from it (Albanese & Freschi, 2022).

Virabhadra, an incarnation of Shiva, created after Shiva’s wife Sati, was not invited to a great sacrifice given by her father Daksha. Being greatly humiliated, Sati went to the banquet and threw herself on the sacrificial fire. When Shiva heard of his wife’s death, he tore a hair from his head and threw it to the ground. Virabhadra, a great hero-warrior, arose from this hair. He cut off Daksha’s head in his rage and hurled it into the sacrificial fire. After the other gods calmed Shiva down, Daksha’s head was replaced by that of a ram and he later became a devotee of Shiva.

Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related copper-brass ceremonial shield of Virabhadra, dated to the 18th century, on display in The British Museum, museum number 1853,0108.9.

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拍品估价:500 - 1,000 欧元 起拍价格:500 欧元  买家佣金: 30.00%

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