Bronze Dancing Shiva Nataraja

Published by Nevan O Shaughnessy on December 19, 2023December 19, 2023

Presenting a GORGEOUS bronze dancing Shiva Nataraja.

We are of the opinion that this is an early to mid 20th century piece.

It has a zinc bronze finish/patina which we would not expect with a much older piece.

We are “erring on the side of caution” with this one!

It is a stunning piece of Indian and Hindu symbolism.

From India, this is an outstanding version of fairly well known subject matter, namely, a bronze of a dancing Shiva inside a flaming ring. Shiva has a profusely decorated headdress with perforated wings to the rear. One arm and hand holds a bowl, another a conch, another with open palm with diamond shaped eye in her palm. A coiled cobra drapes her body. Her leg stands on a prostrated worshipper. It sits on a rectangular shaped plinth with tasseled edges.

The detail to the piece is excellent.

This piece was ‘probably’ bought at one of the 2 main auction houses (Christie’s or Sotheby’s in NY some time between 1999 and 2008) as, it is part of the Dallas Private Collection that we have in our Inventory, with full provenance, on almost all of the pieces that were in that collection.

Unfortunately, we cannot locate the Auction Lot for this bronze, as unlike most of the other items in the Collection, it did not retain it’s auction tag/label.

It seems ‘highly unlikely’ to us, that the original wealthy Indian Collector (whom we acquired the collection from) of these items, purchased a cheap reproduction.

Larger and older versions of this, have sold for Millions of Dollars in the past.

Shiva (/ˈʃiːvə/; Sanskrit: शिव, Śiva, lit. the auspicious one) also known as Mahadeva (lit. the great god) is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is one of the supreme beings within Shaivism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism.

Shiva is known as “The Destroyer” within the Trimurti, the Hindu trinity that includes Brahma and Vishnu. In Shaivism tradition, Shiva is one of the supreme beings who creates, protects and transforms the universe. In the Shaktism tradition, the Goddess, or Devi, is described as one of the supreme, yet Shiva is revered along with Vishnu and Brahma. A goddess is stated to be the energy and creative power (Shakti) of each, with Parvati (Sati) the equal complementary partner of Shiva. He is one of the five equivalent deities in Panchayatana puja of the Smarta tradition of Hinduism.

According to the Shaivism sect, the highest form of Ishvar is formless, limitless, transcendent and unchanging absolute Brahman, and the primal Atman (soul, self) of the universe. There are many both benevolent and fearsome depictions of Shiva. In benevolent aspects, he is depicted as an omniscient Yogi who lives an ascetic life on Mount Kailash as well as a householder with wife Parvati and his two children, Ganesha and Kartikeya. In his fierce aspects, he is often depicted slaying demons. Shiva is also known as Adiyogi Shiva, regarded as the patron god of yoga, meditation and arts.

The iconographical attributes of Shiva are the serpent around his neck, the adorning crescent moon, the holy river Ganga flowing from his matted hair, the third eye on his forehead, the trishula or trident, as his weapon, and the damaru drum. He is usually worshipped in the aniconic form of Lingam. Shiva is a pan-Hindu deity, revered widely by Hindus, in India, Nepaland Sri Lanka.

Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiva