Indian Stone Cosmic Couple

An excellent post-Gupta Indian stone sculpture of the seated Uma-Maheshwara (Shiva and his consort Uma/Parvati). They are the "cosmic couple" – the Supreme Yogi and his Queen, the daughter of the Himalaya mountains. Shiva has his hair piled high and has a heroic expression as he holds his trident staff, an aureole behind his head. Parvati/Uma is sensuously formed and leans langorously with her right hand on Shiva’s thigh. The bull Nandi is under Shiva, Kartikeya/Skanda (their son) under her, riding a peacock. Lovely delicate rendering done in the high classic plastic style. Carved from beige sandstone, the upper part (the deities) evidently oiled from continual application of offerings (which accounts for their deeper color). Formerly in the Rudrananda, DeHavenon and Falk collections.
Most likely originally from the Somnath site in Uttar Pradesh, North India.
The sculpture dates from circa 8th century AD.
Height: 25 inches (63.5 cm.).
HS007