Kerala Bronze Image of Vishnu

This remarkably finely detailed image of a four-armed figure of Vishnu standing on a double lotus pedestal on a much larger platform, is in classic Kerala form.

The figure stands in an erect posture (samabhanga).

The face has strong features and a mask-like quality in keeping with other Kerala bronzes of the period.

The figure wears an elaborate Kerala-style headdress, copious jewellery, flowing ribbons, and pleated flowing dhoti. As Pal (2003, p. 305) comments that for the Kerala artists, ‘the exuberant delineation of the garments acts as a foil for the rigid posture.’

The upper right hand holds a wheel and the upper left holds a conch., The lower left supports an inverted club which rests on the lotus base. The lower right presents a stunningly intricate flower – perhaps a marigold or the flower of the jnana-amalaka (Indian gooseberry) which represents knowledge.

Two posts at the back of the platform originally were either for a backing plate (aureole) or were for the installation of smaller images of his consorts Sridevi and Bhudevi.

See an earlier but related version in the Victoria & Albert Museum.

The style dates back to the 10th-11th century Chera period in Kerala, which developed quite differently to the Chola style of Tamil Nadu. and then by the fifteenth century, Kerala bronze casters were also influenced by the exhuberant Hoysala tradition which explains the profuse decoration on this piece.

Most cast bronze images from southern India are from Tamil Nadu. Images from Kerala are much less frequently encountered. The example here has a dark patina and is in excellent condition.