Chokha depicts the deities Shiva and Parvati relaxing against a large round pillow as if they were a ruler and his consort upon a palace terrace. Parvati, markedly smaller than the god, gazes at her husband with her hands raised in the gesture of respect and devotion. Shiva is recognizable through the iconographic attributes of ash-covered skin, third eye, skull necklace, serpents, trident and the Ganges river that emerges from his matted topknot in the form of a stream of water.
Marks:
Watermark: S Wise & Co. 1825.
Provenance:
To 2001
Sir Howard Hodgkins (born 1932), London, to 2001 [1]
From 2001
Freer Gallery of Art, given by Sir Howard Hodgkin in 2001
Notes:
[1] The object was probably acquired when Sir Howard Hodgkins formed his London collection in the 1960s, but the exact date of acquisition cannot be determined. However, because the object is a small, unfinished work from the early nineteenth century, it falls within a category of artworks that the Indian government typically allows out of the country (according to Curatorial Note 3, Debra Diamond, June 15, 2001, in the object record).
Collection:
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Exhibition History:
Arts of the Indian Subcontinent and the Himalayas (October 16, 2004 to January 3, 2016)
