A BRONZE 'LOTUS MANDALA' LINGAM STAND WITH HANUMAN India, 17^th century. Hanuman is kneeling atop a pierced and stepped square pedestal, his hands clasped together in anjali mudra, wearing a lotus petaled crown, his head supporting a lotiform base from which the separately cast lingam stand emerges, encircled by numerous movable lotus petals.

Provenance: From an important East German private collection, mostly assembled in the 1970s and 1980s, and thence by descent to the last owner.
Condition: Good condition with some wear and minor casting flaws, small dents, minuscule nicks, light scratches, remnants of pigment, losses.

Weight: 891.7 g
Dimensions: Height 21 cm

The present lingam stand is crafted in the form of a lotiform mandala with articulated petals that close to form a lotus bud. First conceived in northeastern India during the Pala period, very few examples of such lingam stands remain fully intact today.

For worshipping, the lingam stone - which would have a size of approximately 15 to 20 cm - would be placed at the center of the lotus mandala after the leaves have been moved into opened position.

Literature comparison:
Compare a related earlier lotus mandala from Nepal, dated to the 13th-14th century, in the collection of the Los Angeles County Museum, accession number M.88.228. Compare a related Indian bronze figure of Hanuman, also dated to the 17^th century, at Christie's New York, 23 September 2004, lot 53.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Remotely related
Auction: Christie's New York, 22 March 2011, lot 382
Price: USD 62,500 or approx. EUR 80,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare articulated bronze mandala of Hevajra, Northeastern India, Pala period, 11^th/12^th century
Expert remark: Note that this is a larger (31 cm) and much earlier bronze mandala.