A LARGE COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF MANIKKAVACAKAR, TAMIL NADU, 14TH-15TH CENTURY South India. Boldly cast standing in tribhanga atop a double lotus pedestal supported on a stepped base decorated with beaded edges, incised lotus and geometric designs. He is holding prayer beads in his right hand, a manuscript in his left, wears a tight-fitting dhoti and is adorned with beaded jewelry. The serene face with large almond-shaped eyes with incised pupils below elegantly arched brows, the full lips forming a calm smile, flanked by pendulous pierced earlobes.

Provenance: From a private collection in London, United Kingdom, acquired prior to 2000. Thence by descent.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear and casting flaws, small nicks, light scratches, minor dents. The back of the legs with remnants of an old label which have left marks on the patina.

Weight: 7,856 g
Dimensions: Height 38.5 cm

Manikkavacakar (Tamil: 'One whose words are like gems') was a 9th-century Tamil saint and poet who wrote Tiruvasakam, a book of Shaiva hymns. Speculated to have been a minister to the Pandya king Varagunavarman II (c. 862-885), he lived in Madurai and is revered as one of the Nalvar, a set of four prominent Tamil saints alongside Appar, Sundarar, and Sambandar. The other three contributed to the first seven volumes (Tevaram) of the twelve-volume Shaivite work Tirumurai, the key devotional text of Shaiva Siddhanta. Manikkavacakar's Tiruvasakam and Thirukkovaiyar form the eighth volume. These eight are considered to be the Tamil Vedas by the Shaivites, and the four saints are revered as Samaya Kuravar (religious preceptors). Manikkavacakar's works are celebrated for their poetic expression of the anguish of being separated from God, and the joy of God-experience, with his ecstatic religious fervor drawing comparisons with those of Western saints like St. Francis of Assisi. Manikkavackar's stone image is worshiped in almost all Shiva temples of Tamil Nadu.

Expert's note: There is a remote possibility that the present figure dates from the 12^th-13^th century, especially when comparing the metallurgy and some physical characteristics with the statue of Yashoda at the Metropolitan Museum. If this were the case, however, it would also mean that the lower two-thirds of the base would have been replaced or at least re-decorated at a later point in time, probably between the 15^th and 17^th centuries.

Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related bronze of the Shaiva saint Sambandar, dated to the 15^th century, 52.1 cm high, in the collection of the Norton Simon Museum, accession number F.1972.25.3.S. Compare also a related bronze depicting Yashoda with the infant Krishna, dated early 12th century, the cast of similar copper-brown patina and with similar wear and casting flaws, in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 1982.220.8.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Nagel, Stuttgart, 11 December 2020, lot 1656
Price: EUR 57,600 or approx. EUR 59,500 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A fine bronze figure of Sambhandar, South-India, Vijayanagar period, ca. 13^th ct.
Expert remark: Compare the closely related pose and coppery tone of the bronze. Note the similar size (37 cm).