96. * W SANDSTONE BRAHMA HEAD Central India, 8th/9th century A SANDSTONE HEAD OF BRAHMA Central India, 8th/9th century 43 x 38 x 30 cm (17 x 15 x 11 3/4 in) Plinth: 138 x 27 x 27 cm (54 3/8 x 10 5/8 x 10 5/8 in) To be sold without reserve Please note that this lot will be sold without reserve 本拍品不設底價 印度中部 八/九世紀 砂岩梵天首 Provenance: Christian Humann (1929-1981), New York, Pan-Asian collection, by 1977. Carlton Rochell, New York, 2005. Published: Pratapaditya Pal, Sensuous Immortals, Los Angeles, 1977, p.67, no.36. Divine Incarnations: Art from India and Southeast Asia, Carlton Rochell Ltd, New York, 2005, no. 11. 來源 Christian Humann，紐約，泛亞洲收藏，1977年入藏 Carlton Rochell，紐約，2005年 出版 Pratapaditya Pal，《Sensuous Immortals》，洛杉磯，1977年，頁67，編號36 《Divine Incarnations：Art from India and Southeast Asia》，Carlton Rochell Ltd.，紐約，2005年，編號11 This sandstone head represents Brahma, the Hindu god of creation. His four heads symbolize the Vedas, four of the oldest scriptures considered to be composed of sacred knowledge. Each head is represented with matted hair held in place with a floral clasp. A lotus situated in a square frame joins the heads along the top. Sculptures of the post-Gupta period of the 8th/9th century show a continuity of Gupta art (4th-6th centuries). Each face is modeled with sweeping eyebrows, elongated eyes and full lips, emblematic of the simplicity and roundedness of Mathuran styles in Uttar Pradesh. The facial type and thickly matted hair correspond to an Uma-Maheshvara of the same period in the Museum Rietberg (Lohuizen-de Leeuw, Indische Skulpturen, 1964, p. 43 no. 8).