Vishnu Schist Eastern India, Pala Period

A high relief stele depicting a four-armed iconic form of Vishnu standing in samapada (literally 'without bending'), the stone cut away behind him to separate the deity from the crowded background. He holds a gadha (mace) budding with foliage in his upper right hand, the lower right forms varadamudra (granting favors), a tiny lotus in the centre of the palm. In his upper left hand he holds a cakra (disc), symbol of absolute completeness, and in the lower left a conch. He wears a three-pronged, tall crown topped by an amalaka, is adorned with elaborate jewelry and embellished with a vanamala (long floral garland) reaching his knees. His lower hands rest on lotus flowers in full bloom the curving stems of which grow out from the base, and echo the tribhanga posture of his two female consorts who stand on either side. On Vishnu's right is Lakshmi holding holding a fly whisk, while on his left is Sarasvati playing her vina, both wearing similar crowns to Vishnu. The relief is set within an arch carved with tiny avatars of Vishnu and culminating in a kirttimukha spewing garlands and foliage at the apex. Beneath his feet, carved on the front of the base is Garuda flanked by three diminutive devotees on one side and one on the other.

California Collection, acquired 1970

California State University, Hayward, Museum of Anthropology Temporary Exhibition, 1986.

The stele with roughly cut sides and some chips from the edges especially the lower edge. Soil deposits present in the crevices throughout. On the main figure the little finger of the right hand is broken. Light general wear due to age but condition generally extremely good. No restoration.
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In the late Pala period Vishnu is the most popular Hindu deity depicted in sculpture and is most commonly shown in this form. Compare to a similar example from The Avery Brundage Collection at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco published in Susan L. Huntington and John C. Huntington, Leaves from the Bodhi Tree: The Art of Pala India (8^th-12^th centuries) and Its International Legacy, Dayton, 1990, pp. 163-164, fig. 36.