A MONUMENTAL GRANITE FIGURE OF SHIVA, CHOLA PERIOD South India, Tamil Nadu, 11th century. Superbly and deeply carved standing in samabhanga, with four arms holding attributes including a snake and trident (trishula). Richly adorned in beaded jewelry and sacred thread, a snake garland around his shoulders. The head of Nandi peeking out from the side with the tail curling in a spiral to the other. Provenance: Collection of Lee Lozowick. Hungarian private collection, acquired from the above. Lee Lozowick (1943-2010) was an American spiritual teacher, author, poet, and singer from Prescott, Arizona. Lozowick became a disciple of Yogi Ramsuratkumar and attributed to him an earlier awakening experience. Lee subsequently became known as the ‘Heart-Son’ of Yogi Ramsuratkumar, after he wrote several volumes of devotional poetry containing over a thousand poems dedicated to his spiritual master. Lozowick then formed a spiritual community called Hohm in New Jersey and began to gather disciples. In 1980, he moved the community to Arizona. Lozowick founded three ashrams: Triveni Ashram in Arizona, USA, the Ramji Association’s Ashram at Ferme de Jutreau in France, and the Triveni II Ashram in Tiruvannamalai, India. Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age, extensive wear, losses, signs of erosion, encrustations. Weight: ca. 160 kg (rough estimate) Dimensions: Height 130 cm The serene face with arched eyebrows above lidded almond-shaped eyes with finely incised pupils centered by an urna and full lips forming a benevolent smile, wearing a crown decorated with geometric designs. Auction result comparison: Compare with a related but considerably smaller (74.3 cm high) granite figure of Vishnu at Christie’s New York in Sacred and Imperial: The James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection Part II on 24 September 2020, lot 965, sold for USD 52,500. Compare also with a closely related but slightly smaller (113.7 cm high) granite figure, erroneously described as Vishnu but like the present lot clearly Shiva according to the iconography, at Christie’s New York in Indian & Southeast Asian Art on 21 March 2008, lot 758, sold for USD 51,400.