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Shiva standing / Artist Unknown India, Tamil Nadu, Pudukottai Workshop
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About this Item
Record Details
- Accession Number
- 1978/2.116
- Title
- Shiva standing
- Artist Nationality
- Indian
- Medium and Support
- bronze
- Object Creation Date
- 15th century - 16th century
- Object Creation Place
- Asia (continent)
- India (nation)
- Tamil Nadu (state)
- Pudukottai (inhabited place)
- Creation Place 1
- Asia (continent)
- Creation Place 2
- India (nation)
- Creation Place 3
- Tamil Nadu (state)
- Creation Place 4
- Pudukottai (inhabited place)
- Style/Group/Movement
- South Indian folk bronze
- Dimensions
- 41.4 cm x 17 cm x 5 cm (16 5/16 in. x 6 11/16 in. x 1 15/16 in.)
- Century
- 15th-16th century
- Primary Object Classification
- Sculpture
- Primary Object Type
- figure
- Secondary Object Classification
- Ritual Objects
- Secondary Object Type
- figure
- Physical Description
- Shiva stands on a tiny base with little feet in a strict unbending stance. The body is elongated with a small waist, the hips billowing out and tapering in a stylized way to the feet. He has broad shoulders and has four arms. Reading in a clockwise direction from the right front hand, he holds, a sword, another sword, a bow and a shield. He wears a lot of jewelry, necklaces that cover his entire chest, at least three belts with pendant decorations and what appears to be a bustle like garment that billows out from his waist and has a beaded border that curves down across his legs below his knees. He wears large earrings and a crown decorated with a disk for the sun and crescent for the moon. He has large wide opened eyes and what almost looks like two sets of eyebrows, a dot where his third eye should be and a luxurious moustache.
- Subject Matter
- Unlike the elegant and courtly figures of Shiva and Parvati produced in northeast India six centuries earlier (also on view in the exhibition), these two figures bristle with a fierce energy. The style seen here is unique to the region of Pudukottai in Tamil Nadu, in the far south of the subcontinent. There are many such guardian figures with sword and shield found throughout the south in both metal and terracotta; this pair can be identified as Shiva and Parvati by Parvati’s small cup, probably a kapala or skull cup, which refers to Shaivite ascetic practices.
- Secondary Keywords
- associated concepts
- figures
- hindu
- named gods and goddesses
- people
- people (agents)
- people and culture
- people and occupations
- people by state or condition
- religion
- religions
- religions and religious concepts
- subject matter
- Rights
- If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit https://umma.umich.edu/about/services/request-image/ for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
Technical Details
- Collection
- University of Michigan Museum of Art
- Image Size
- 1548 x 2777
- File Size
- 572 KB
- Record
- 1978/2.116
- Link to this Item
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1978-sl-2.116/1978_2_116_1.jpg
Rights and Permissions
Related Links
Portfolios
IIIF
- Manifest
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:1978-SL-2.116:1978_2_116_1.JPG
Cite this Item
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- Full citation
-
"Shiva standing; Artist Unknown India, Tamil Nadu, Pudukottai Workshop." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1978-sl-2.116/1978_2_116_1.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 18, 2024.
