Parvati as Candika
Unidentified Pala Dynasty maker
Pala Dynasty (about 900-1100)
Black limestone
Overall: 19 1/4 in. (48.9 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Gift of D. Herbert Beskind, Class of 1936
S.967.107
Geography
Place Made: India, South Asia, Asia
Object Name
Ceremonial Artifact
Research Area
Asia
On view
Label
At the center of this stone stela, the Hindu goddess Parvati stands surrounded by a dense array of other deities, animals, and symbols. In its original placement, the relief would have been set into a wall niche in a brick temple as part of a profusion of ornament. The sheen of oil at the base of the stone may be the remnants of devotional practices that involved ritually bathing and touching the sculpture. The desire for similar fragments of sacred architecture in the art market eventually led to the widespread looting and smuggling of sculptures that are still actively worshipped. This has resulted in the citizen-led “Give Back Our Gods” movement that seeks to identify improperly acquired sculptures and return them to their homes. Because this sculpture entered the United States before 1970, it is in compliance with the UNESCO Convention on Illicit Trafficking that sets the legal standard for acquisitions of cultural property.
From the 2025 exhibition, From Mastodon to Mosaic: Building an Academic Art Collection in America, curated by Ashley B. Offill, Curator of Collections
Course History
ASCL 51.06/REL 41.07, Buddhism Sex, Gender in South East Asia, Sara Swenson, Spring 2022
HIST 96.01, Colonialism and Culture in Asia and Africa, Douglas Haynes, Spring 2022
REL 43.01, Buddhism in America, Reiko Ohnuma, Spring 2022
HIST 90.15/ASCL 54.12, Early Modern India, 1500-1800, Tiraana Bains, Fall 2022
Art History 31.01, Arts of South Asia, Seher Agarwala, Fall 2023
Art History 38.01, Asian Socieites, Cultures, and Languages 70.01, Sacred Architecture of Asia, Seher Argawala, Fall 2024
Exhibition History
Dr. Ernest Hauswedell Auction, Hamburg, 1964.
From Mastadon to Mosaic, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, June 14, 2025 - Fall 2026
Provenance
Dr. Ernst Hausweddell & Co., "Indien & Siam, Plastik des 2.-18. Jahrhunderts," Hamburg, Germany, lot 19, 27 November 1961; sold to David Herbert Beskind (1915-2015), Class of 1936, New York, New York; given to present collection, 1967.
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