Late Kushan Empire, 4th-5th century. The finely carved relief panel shows three main figures, each standing on a double lotus base, with Parvati in a formal position holding floral attributes in her four hands, accompanied by her sons, the elephant-headed Ganesha and the god of war Skanda, also known as Karttikeya, all on a rectangular pedestal bearing a distinct circular lotus frieze.

Provenance: Arthur Huc (1854-1932). Marcel Huc, inherited from the above. Thence by descent within the same family. Arthur Huc was the chief editor of La Dépêche du Midi, at the time the leading newspaper in Toulouse, France. He was also an accomplished art critic and early patron of several artists, including Henri de Toulouse- Lautrec. At the same time, Arthur Huc was a keen collector of Asian art, a passion that he inherited from his legendary ancestor Évariste Régis Huc, also known as the Abbé Huc (1813-1860), a French Catholic priest and traveler who became famous for his accounts of Qing-era China, Mongolia and especially the then-almost-unknown Tibet in his book “Remembrances of a Journey in Tartary, Tibet, and China”.
Inventory List: In 1954, L. Magniette, bailiff of the court in Toulouse (Huissier), was ordered to compile a complete inventory of the collection inherited by Marcel Huc from his father, Arthur Huc, the so-called “Inventaire Huc”. The present lot is listed in this inventory as part of a group of Gandhara stones as follows: “Seconde pièce cave- 32 pierres similaires Gandhara emballés- Bouddha et divers. (Voir suite)” (second room basement: 32 similar Gandhara stones wrapped- Buddhas and various. (see followup). A copy of the inventory list and cover page are accompanying this lot.
Condition: Excellent condition, fully consistent with the age of the sculpture. Some loss to exposed areas, smaller dents and nicks, structural cracks, all hardly noticeable due to a light-colored varnish coating which was applied a long time ago.

On a wooden base. (2)

Weight: 65 kg
Dimensions: Height 76 cm (excl. base) and 95 cm (incl. base)

Parvati is the perfection of beauty. In the present statue, she is shown with a benign facial expression, large eyes, round breasts and a narrow waist, wearing a diaphanous dhoti with schematized folds at the lower part. She is richly bejeweled, wearing her hair in an elaborate coiffure. Parvati is the daughter of Himavat, the embodiment of the Himalayan Mountains, and the consort of Shiva, one of Hinduism's most important gods. Her name means “Daughter of the Mountain.” Figuratively and literally, she is born from the stone itself and flanked by her two sons, the elephant-headed Ganesha on her right, and Karttikeya (also known as Skanda) on her left. In her four hands she holds various flowers as attributes. Some regard Kali as Parvati’s fearsome aspect while others consider Durga to be the manifestation that the goddess assumes to fight evil. In some ways Parvati can be regarded as the embodiment of the divine feminine, “The Great Goddess.”

The present stele is carved from buff stone and undoubtedly was once positioned in a niche within a temple and served as a focus of worship.

Literature comparison: Compare with a stone panel of Parvati and her sons in the collection of the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, USA, object no. B64S6, showing the same compositional concept and iconography, but dating from the Pala empire, 8th-12th century.

Auction comparison: Compare with a green stone relief of Shiva and Parvati from the 12th century at Christie’s New York in Indian & Southeast Asian Art on 21 March 2008, lot 746, sold for USD 79,000.