About the Artwork
Artists in southern India made this sculpture of the Hindu goddess Parvati for festival processions, when gods and goddesses emerge from their temples to greet devotees in the surrounding city, village, or countryside. The rings at the base would have accommodated rods used to secure the sculpture within a chariot or palanquin (a wheelless vehicle carried on poles).
First creating a model in wax, then making a clay mold to cast the sculpture in metal, the artists carefully rendered Parvati’s intricate jewelry, patterned garment, and neatly spiraling curls of hair, which fall against the back of her neck. But traditionally, these details would not have been visible to most viewers. Whether on procession or in the temple, during times of worship Parvati would have been covered in real silks, jewelry, and flower garlands — offerings that adorn and honor the goddess.
Parvati
13th century
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Indian
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Copper alloy
Overall: 40 3/4 × 15 3/4 × 14 1/4 inches (103.5 × 40 × 36.2 cm)
Sculpture
Asian Art
Founders Society Purchase, Sarah Bacon Hill Fund
41.81
Public Domain
Markings
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Provenance
by 1925, Professor Gabriel Jouveau-Dubreuil (Pondichéry, India);around 1925, (C. T. Loo [1880-1957], Paris, France);
1941-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
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Provenance pageExhibition History
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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.
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Suggest FeedbackPublished References
East Indian Sculpture from Various American Collections. Exh. cat., Toledo Museum of Art. Toledo, January 7-28, 1940, no. 21.
Lee, Sherman E. "East Indian Bronzes," Bulletin of the DIA 21, no. 4 (January 1942): pp. 27-31, (ill.).
Bronzes of India and Greater India. Exh. cat., Rhode Island School of Design, Museum of Art. Providence, November 2 - 30, 1955, p. 20, no. 56.
Master Bronzes of India. The Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago, 1965, no. 56.
Master Bronzes of India. Asia House Gallery. New York, October 12 - December 11, 1966, no. 56.
The Detroit Institute of Arts Illustrated Handbook. DIA. Detroit, 1971, p. 60, (ill.).
University Liggett Antiques Show. University Liggett School. Grosse Pointe Woods, June 13-16, 1979, pp. 71, 73.
Selected Works from The Detroit Institute of Arts. DIA. Detroit, 1979, p. 33, no.16, (ill.).
Pal, Pratapaditya. "The Moon-Crested God and Related Images," Bulletin of the DIA 59, no. 2/3 (1981): pp. 77- 84, p. 79 (ill.).
Kramrisch, Stella. Manifestations of Shiva. Philadelphia Museum of Art. Philadelphia, 1981, p. 141, no. 115, (ill.).
100 Masterworks from the Detroit Institute of Arts. DIA. Detroit, 1985, pp. 46-47, (ill.).
The Detroit Institute of Arts: A Visitor's Guide. DIA. Detroit, 1995, p. 148, (ill.).
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Credit Line for Reproduction
Indian, Parvati, 13th century, copper alloy. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, Sarah Bacon Hill Fund, 41.81.
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