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A TERRACOTTA RELIEF OF SOMA (CHANDRA), THE MOON GOD UTTAR PRADESH, GUPTA PERIOD, 6TH CENTURY image 1
A TERRACOTTA RELIEF OF SOMA (CHANDRA), THE MOON GOD UTTAR PRADESH, GUPTA PERIOD, 6TH CENTURY image 2
Lot 640

A TERRACOTTA RELIEF OF SOMA (CHANDRA), THE MOON GOD
UTTAR PRADESH, GUPTA PERIOD, 6TH CENTURY

23 September 2020, 15:00 EDT
New York

Sold for US$5,387.50 inc. premium

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A TERRACOTTA RELIEF OF SOMA (CHANDRA), THE MOON GOD

UTTAR PRADESH, GUPTA PERIOD, 6TH CENTURY
Inscribed with two letters of late Brahmi (Gupta) script, "soma", identifying the subject.
10 in. (25.5 cm) high

Footnotes

北方邦 笈多王朝 六世紀 陶質月神像

G. Bhattacharya dedicated an article to this terracotta relief, which he proposes is the earliest known image of the Hindu moon god, Soma (also known as Chandra). The pot-bellied deity is shown alert and attentive, holding a rosary and a water jug. His flexed toes, well-nourished physique, and elaborate curls are idiomatic of Gupta-period sculpture in terracotta. Compare other panels with differing subjects in the Brooklyn Museum of Art (73.124 & 1990.226).

Published
Gouriswar Bhattacharya, "Soma - The Hindu Moon God", in Orientations, October 1993, No.10, p.84, fig.1.

Provenance
Dr. and Mrs. J. LeRoy Davidson, Los Angeles
Sotheby's, New York, 28 October 1991, lot 302

Additional information

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