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Europe » Wayside Carved Stone with Figure
Ref: 2025
A small carved stone shaped like a child′s tombstone, it has a primitive relief carving on it of a "god", it is presumably a wayside shrine depicting a Hindu god. Is it Kali, maybe, but really it could be any one of numerous Hindu gods or proto-Hindu gods, it has four arms and holds the ubiquitous lotus blossom in one hand and a sword or scythe in another. The flattened lower body with the tiny "Japanese" feet sticking out tells us this is a very primitive carving, the antithesis of the High Art of Indian body carving, and much more like representations of figures on early Indian coinage or primitive European gravestones from Scotland or Bosnia. The stone is evidently of some age, having been in a Cotswold garden for a number of years it has acquired a pleasingly rich spotting and blemish of Northern and other lichens.
India pre-20th cent.
H: 36cm (14.2in)
W: 30cm (11.8in)
D: 4cm (1.6in)
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