Shiva with Uma and Skanda (Somaskanda)
950-975
Asia: India, Tamil Nadu
On View

One of the greatest patrons of tenth century Chola art was Queen Sembiyan Mahadevi. Widowed at a young age, she lived most of her life as a dowager queen. From 941 until her death in 1006, she sponsored the building of numerous stone temples throughout the Cholas’ realm. The bronze workshop that Queen Sembiyan Mahadevi established continued to produce some of the finest iconic images of the Chola period, of which this sculpture is an example. The pattern of the fabric worn by Shiva and Parvati, articulated by bands of circles, triangles and scrolls, is identical to images attributed to Queen Sembiyan Mahadevi’s workshop.

Details

  • Title: Shiva with Uma and Skanda (Somaskanda)
  • Date: 950-975
  • Medium: Bronze
  • Dimensions: 23 x 27-1/2 x 14 in. (58.4 x 69.8 x 35.6 cm)
  • Credit Line: The Norton Simon Foundation
  • Accession Number: F.1972.23.1.S
  • Copyright: © The Norton Simon Foundation

Object Information

  • Pal, Pratapaditya, Marg, fig. 4 pp. 56-58
  • Dehejia, Vidya, Asian Art: Selections from the Norton Simon Museum, fig. 8 p. 41
  • Pal, Pratapaditya, American Collectors of Asian Art, 1986, fig. 4 pp. 120, 122
  • Pal, Pratapaditya, Asian Art at the Norton Simon Museum, Volume 1: Art from the Indian Subcontinent, 2003, fig. 23, no. 168a pp. 28, 222-224
  • Donaldson, Thomas, Iconography and Body Language in Hara-Parvati and Allied Images (2 vols), 2004, fig.247
  • Donaldson, Thomas, Iconography and Body Language in Hara-Parvati and Allied Images (2 vols), 2004, p. 309
  • Ghose, Rajeshwari, Chidambaram Home of the Nataraja, 2004, fig. 3 p. 121
  • Guy, John, Vidya Dehejia, et al, Chola: Sacred Bronzes of Southern India, 2006, fig. 16 pp.29-30
  • Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. 823 p. 342
  • Dehejia, Vidya, The Thief Who Stole My Heart: The Material Life of Chola Bronzes from South India, c. 855-1280, 2021, Fig. 4.12 pp. 106-109, p. 108 (ill.)
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