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Dancing Ganesha

CultureIndian
Date9th century C.E.
MediumLight gray sandstone
DimensionsOverall: 39 × 20 1/4 × 8 1/4 inches (99.06 × 51.44 × 20.96 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust
Object number70-45
On View
On view
Gallery Location
  • 227
Exhibition History
No additional exhibition history known at this time.
Gallery Label
Ganesha is the elephant-headed son of the Hindu gods Shiva and Parvati. Here, we see Ganesha dancing joyously like his father. Ganesha holds sweetmeats in his principal hands and feeds himself with his trunk. His upper two hands stretch out a snake above his head. Worshipped as the overcomer of obstacles, Ganesha also holds a scarf, a noose, an axe, and a club. He is surrounded by flying figures and attendants, who fill the top and lower corners of this relief.
Provenance

With William H. Wolff, Inc., New York by 1970;

Purchased from William H. Wolff, Inc. by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1970.

Published References

“Art of Asia Recently Acquired by American Museums 1970” Archives of Asian Art, 25 (1971-72): 100, fig. 27, (repro.).

Hugo Munsterberg, Sculptures of the Orient (New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1972), plate 19, (repro.).

Pratapaditya Pal, “Stone Sculpture of India and South-East Asia,” Apollo, 97 (March 1973): 87, fig. 8, (repro.).

Ross E. Taggart and George L. McKenna, eds., Handbook of the Collections in The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, Kansas City, Missouri, vol. 2, Art of the Orient, 5th ed. (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1973), 127, (repro.).

Denise. L. Carmody and John. T. Carmody, Ways to the Center:  An Introduction to World Religions, 3rd ed. (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1989), 111, fig. 15, (repro.).

Roger Ward and Patricia J. Fidler, eds., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection (New York: Hudson Hills Press, in association with Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1993), 379, (repro.).

Deborah Emont Scott, ed., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection, 7th ed. (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2008), 263, fig. 20, (repro.).

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and Kimberly Masteller, Masterworks from India and Southeast Asia: the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (Kanas City, Missouri: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in association with University of Washington Press, 2016), 48-49, (repro.).

Information about a particular artwork or image, including provenance information, is based upon historic information and may not be currently accurate or complete. Research on artwork and images is an ongoing process, and the information about a particular artwork or image may not reflect the most current information available to the Museum. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about a particular artwork or image, please e-mail provenance@nelson-atkins.org.


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