Important Notice

TAMIL NADU, CIRCA 12TH CENTURY
Bronze
19.25 in (49 cm) high

NON-EXPORTABLE REGISTERED ANTIQUITY

PROVENANCE
Property from a Royal Collection

This gracefully modelled sculpture from the Chola dynasty shows Saint Manikkavachakar, the famed 9th century Shaivite Tamil poet, with his right hand held up in a gesture of teaching. In his left hand, he holds a palm-leaf manuscript symbolic of his devotion to Lord Shiva. He has matted hair and is modestly dressed, with a sacred thread around his torso, a necklace, an arm ornament and a bangle. A short cloth is wrapped around his waist. "Manikkavachakar wrote a large and varied body of poems, which constitute the Tiruvachakam, the eighth book of the the Tiruvachakam, the eighth book of the the Tiruvachakam, the eighth book of the title, 'He whose words are rubies'. Shiva temples generally possess two images of Manikkavachakar, one being placed before the temple’s image of Shiva as Nataraja (Lord of Dance). The second stands as part of the nalvar or 'Revered Four' poet-saints, alongside child saint Sambandar, saint Appar and saint Sundarar." (Vidya Dehejia, Chola: Sacred Bronzes of South India, London: Royal Academy Books, 2007, p. 104)

"The bronze deities created between the ninth and thirteenth centuries in the Tamil region of South India under the Chola dynasty are among India's most celebrated sculpted figures, hailed as exquisite artistic creations." (Dehejia, p. 26)

TAMIL NADU, CIRCA 12TH CENTURY
Bronze
19.25 in (49 cm) high

NON-EXPORTABLE REGISTERED ANTIQUITY

PROVENANCE
Property from a Royal Collection

This gracefully modelled sculpture from the Chola dynasty shows Saint Manikkavachakar, the famed 9th century Shaivite Tamil poet, with his right hand held up in a gesture of teaching. In his left hand, he holds a palm-leaf manuscript symbolic of his devotion to Lord Shiva. He has matted hair and is modestly dressed, with a sacred thread around his torso, a necklace, an arm ornament and a bangle. A short cloth is wrapped around his waist. "Manikkavachakar wrote a large and varied body of poems, which constitute the Tiruvachakam, the eighth book of the the Tiruvachakam, the eighth book of the the Tiruvachakam, the eighth book of the title, 'He whose words are rubies'. Shiva temples generally possess two images of Manikkavachakar, one being placed before the temple’s image of Shiva as Nataraja (Lord of Dance). The second stands as part of the nalvar or 'Revered Four' poet-saints, alongside child saint Sambandar, saint Appar and saint Sundarar." (Vidya Dehejia, Chola: Sacred Bronzes of South India, London: Royal Academy Books, 2007, p. 104)

"The bronze deities created between the ninth and thirteenth centuries in the Tamil region of South India under the Chola dynasty are among India's most celebrated sculpted figures, hailed as exquisite artistic creations." (Dehejia, p. 26)