A RITUAL CONCH SHELL


NEPAL, CIRCA 16TH/17TH CENTURYHimalayan Art Resources item no.61700 11.5 cm (4 1/4 in.) long
|尼泊爾 約十六/十七世紀 法螺Conch shells are often used as trumpets at the start and end of Hindu and Buddhist rituals. The object is sanctified with imagery and blessings, thus the sound passing through it demarcates sacred space and time, which a ritual is conducted in. Its blessed sound is also believed to shield from harmful spirits, and so is also blown at dusk (cf. Pal, Art of Tibet, Los Angeles, 1990, p.248).Carved ritual conch shells survive as far back as the Pala period, as evinced by two 11th-12th century examples, one in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1986.501.6), the other in the Philadelphia Museum of Art (2012-106-1). The present work is carved with a rare ithyphallic form of Vishnu and another form riding Garuda. The conch is an attribute of Vishnu, so the subject is especially appropriate, shared by the Philadelphia Museum example. Stylistic elements of the present shell, such as the crowns, jewelry, and stocky physiognomy conform to the Malla period. Compare with a bronze Malla Vishnu sold at Bonhams, New York, 16 March 2015, lot 3. ProvenanceCollection of Benny Rustenberg, Amsterdam, 1970s