ClassificationsAsian Art

Ganesha

Place FoundMaharashtra, India, Asia

CultureIndia, Maharashtra

Date8th-9th Century CE

MediumRed sandstone

Credit LineGift of Joanne and Charles Ackerman and Chris Carlos

Dimensions21 1/2 x 15 3/4 x 12 in. (54.6 x 40 x 30.5 cm)

Object number2012.013.001

Label TextKnown as the Remover of Obstacles, Ganesha’s elephant-headed image can be found at the entrance of temples and in shrines in both domestic and commercial settings to clear the path for successful worship and other endeavors.

The goddess Parvati created Ganesha to keep her company while her husband, Shiva, was away for long periods of time meditating in the mountains. On story recounts that when Shiva returned home, the boy did not recognize him and tried to prevent his entry. In anger, Shiva cut off the boy’s head and flung it far away. Parvati was devastated and pleaded for her husband to restore her son’s life. Shiva asked his attendants to bring him the head of the first living being they came upon, that of an elephant, and Shiva attached it to the boy.

In his four hands Ganesha holds prayer beads, an axe for removing obstacles, one of his tusks – which he broke off to use as a pen to transcribe the Mahabharata, and a bowl of sweets into which he pokes his trunk. He wears a necklace of bells and, like his father, a sacred cord in the form of a snake that wraps around his belly and over his shoulder.
Exhibition HistoryMCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, February 22 - August 26, 2013
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 25, 2013 - April 4, 2021
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, August 28, 2021 - Present
Published ReferencesChristie's New York, Indian and Southeast Asian (21 March 2012), lot 747.
MCCM Newsletter, Fall-Winter 2012.

ProvenanceEx private collection, Belgium, 1965. Ex private collection, Europe. Purchased by MCCM from Christie's New York, March 21, 2012, lot 747.

Status

On view

Collections