A SANDSTONE FRAGMENT OF DURGA SLAYING MAHISHA, UTTAR PRADESH India, 9^th-10^th century. Carved in openwork as Durga wielding the mighty broad bladed sword above her head with which she has just decapitated the buffalo. With her remaining right hands, she displays the discus weapon of Vishnu and plunging Shiva's trident. In her raised left hands she holds the shield, poised as a counterpoint to the raised sword, and the noose, the face adorned with a crown, backed by a halo and flanked by devis above.

Provenance: Stefaan Grusenmeyer, Belgium, 1987. A noted Belgian private collection, acquired from the above and thence by descent in the same family. Stefaan Grusenmeyer was a Belgian art dealer initially based in Ghent. In 1983, he opened a gallery in Brussels, which his son Karim took over in 2000. The gallery specializes in sculpture, archaeology, jewelry, and decorative arts from Southeast Asia, China, and India.
Condition: Fine condition commensurate with age and with extensive weathering and wear, areas of erosion, some structural cracks and losses, minor nicks here and there, all as expected for a statue of this high age. Good natural patina.

Weight: 22.6 g (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 32 cm (excl. stand), 38.2 cm (incl. stand)

With a modern wood stand. (2)

Expert's note: This fragment is rare and was most likely part of an exterior structure of a lost and long-abandoned temple, exposed to the elements for hundreds of years. Such temple pieces have a particularly charming patina resulting from centuries of natural weathering, which is simply impossible to recreate even by the most talented and resourceful forger. A piece worth the close attention of the advanced collector!

Durga slaying Mahisha is here represented in her multi-armed form, manifesting her supreme power as the dispeller of evil. Following the Devi Mahatmya text, she wields the mighty weapons lent to her by the assembly of male gods who singly could not defeat the demon.

The worship of a mother goddess as the source of life and fertility has ancient roots, but the composition of the text Devi Mahatmya ("Glory of the Goddess") during the fifth to sixth century led to the dramatic transformation of the female principle into a great goddess of cosmic powers. Durga is the cosmic Magna Mater, and this popular iconic type encapsulates the struggle between the goddess and the demon Mahishasura, who symbolizes ignorance, disorder, chaos, and evil. Later textual sources generally refer to the subject as Mahishasuramardini, or 'killer of the buffalo demon'. She remains the most important and popular form of the great goddess known generically as Devi or Shakti.

Literature comparison:
Compare a related stone carving of Durga, dated to the late 9^th century, Bihar, India, in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 2016.650.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie's New York, 20 March 2012, lot 46
Price: USD 18,750 or approx. EUR 23,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A buff sandstone relief of Durga, India, Uttar Pradesh, 10^th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related pose, attributes, and headdress. Note the size (42.5 cm).