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Shiva Vishapaharana (The Lord Who Swallowed the World Poison)
Shiva Vishapaharana (The Lord Who Swallowed the World Poison)

Shiva Vishapaharana (The Lord Who Swallowed the World Poison)

CultureIndian
Date9th-10th century C.E.
MediumBronze
DimensionsOverall: 18 1/2 × 8 inches (46.99 × 20.32 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust
Object number50-17
On View
On view
Gallery Location
  • 228
Collections
Exhibition History

Exposition de Sculptures et Bronzes Ancien de L'Inde, C. T. Loo & Company, Paris, June 14-July 31, 1935, no. 11 as Civa.

The Art of India, Farnsworth Art Museum, Wellesley College, MA, under the auspices of the Mayling Soong Foundation, April 18-May 15, 1953, no. 23 as Siva as Chandrasekhara.

Bronzes of India and Greater India, The Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, November 2-30, 1955, no. 9 as Siva.

Master Bronzes of India, The Art Institute of Chicago, September 3-October 10, 1965; The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri, October 21-November 30, 1965; The Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio, January 18-February 27, 1966; Asia House Gallery, New York, October 12-December 11, 1966, no. 21 as Shiva Wearing the Moon in His Locks.

Manifestations of Shiva, Philadelphia Museum of Art, March 29-June 7, 1981; Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, August 1-September 27, 1981; Seattle Art Museum, November 25, 1981-January 31, 1982; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, March 23-May 30, 1982, no. 90 as Siva, the Lord Who Swallowed the World Poison (Visapaharanamurti).

Gallery Label
Once, in the mythical past, the gods and demons cooperated in churning up a sea of milk, seeking the elixir of life. Many marvelous objects arose from the depths, including a wishing tree, the wish-granting cow, Kamadhenu, and the goddess of fortune, Lakshmi. However, a dreadful poison was also produced that could have destroyed the world. The god Shiva rescued the world by swallowing the potent brew. The serpent in his left hand is a symbol of the poison. His lower right hand, which also holds a rosary, is in the position of offering a blessing. His two upper hands hold the two symbols most typical of South Indian representations of Shiva, the ax and the deer.
Provenance

With C. T. Loo & Co., Paris and New York, no. J-155, by June 14, 1935-1950 [1];

Purchased from C. T. Loo, Inc. by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1950.

NOTES:

[1] This object was included in C. T. Loo’s 1935 catalogue Exposition de Sculptures et Bronzes Ancien de l’Inde. It was transferred from Paris to Loo's New York branch by December 1946. C. T. Loo/Frank Caro archive, Musée Guimet, Paris, copy of stock card in Nelson-Atkins curatorial files. C. T. Loo & Co. was incorporated as C. T. Loo, Inc. in 1949.

Published References

C. T. Loo & Company, Exposition de Sculptures et Bronzes Anciens de l’Inde, exh. cat. (Paris: C. T. Loo & Company, 1935), 8, plate 7, no. 11, (repro.).

Rhode Island School of Design. Bronzes of India and Greater India; an Exhibition Held the 2 till the 30 November, 1955 (Providence, Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, 1955), 7 (fig. 9), 19, (repro.).

Ross E. Taggart, ed., Handbook of the Collections in the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 4th ed. (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1959), 231, (repro.).

Art Institute of Chicago and William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, Master Bronzes of India, exh. cat. (Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1965), unpaginated, (repro.).

M. Fairbanks Marcus, “Master Bronzes of India: The Expanding Horizon of Indian Bronzes,” in Oriental Art, New Series 12, no. 1 (Spring 1966): 89, fig. 3, (repro.).

Pratapaditya Pal, “The Rich Variety of the Indian Bronze,” Apollo, 97 (March 1973): 78, 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), 131, (repro.).

Stella Kramrisch, Manifestations of Shiva, exh. cat. (Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1981), 110, (repro.).

Ellen R. Goheen, The Collections of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1988), 212-13, (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), 383, (repro.).

Richard Anderson, Calliope’s Sisters:  A Comparative Study of Philosophies of Art 2nd ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc., 2004), 203, fig. 8-4, (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), 264, fig. 21, (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.