Dear Christophe,

The second inscription reads: [siddham] bhaṭṭavināyaka.

The first inscription should possibly be read as: [siddham] paśrīnitakaśca māta 
ca.

Best wishes,

Elliot M. Stern
552 South 48th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19143-2029
[email protected]
267-240-8418


> On Sep 17, 2021, at 12:39 AM, Arlo Griffiths via INDOLOGY 
> <[email protected]> wrote:
> 
> Dear Christophe,
> 
> Thanks for sharing these photos.
> 
> Such dedication inscriptions on sculptural stelae from Bengal are not 
> uncommon. The following two catalogues published by Claudine Bautze-Picron 
> include appendices by the late Gouriswar Bhattacharya with readings of 
> several dozens of inscriptions of this type:
> 
>    Bautze-Picron, Claudine. 1998. The Art of Eastern India in the Collection 
> of the Museum Für Indische Kunst, Berlin: Stone & Terracotta Sculptures. 
> Monographien zur Indischen Archäologie, Kunst und Philologie 12. Berlin: 
> Reimer.
>    ———. 2014. The Forgotten Place: Stone Images from Kurkihar. New Delhi: 
> Archaeological Survey of India.
> 
> G. Bhattacharya himself has dedicated numerous articles to such inscriptions, 
> and most of them are assembled in this volume:
> 
>    Bhattacharya, Gouriswar. 2000. Essays on Buddhist, Hindu, Jain Iconography 
> & Epigraphy. Edited by Enamul Haque. Studies in Bengal Art 1. Dhaka: The 
> International Centre for Study of Bengal Art.
> 
> An effort is being made by Rajat Sanyal (University of Calcutta) as part of 
> the DHARMA project to compile a database of such inscriptions, initially 
> focusing on specimens that contain a (regnal) date, and I am helping him in 
> this effort. I hope that we'll have something to show within a year or two.
> 
> The writing is often perfunctory (both from the point of view of physical 
> engraving and from the point of view of grammar) and the texts are full of 
> proper names. For these reasons, such inscriptions can be hard to decipher. 
> Here's a quick attempt for the specimen you saw in Brussels:
> 
> [siddham] paścīnitañ ca māta ca ||
> 
> I haven't myself been reading such inscriptions lately so I expect numerous 
> corrections from other members of this forum.
> 
> Best wishes,
> 
> Arlo Griffiths
> https://dharma.hypotheses.org/ 
> <https://dharma.hypotheses.org/people/griffiths-arlo>
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> From: INDOLOGY <[email protected]> on behalf of Christophe 
> Vielle via INDOLOGY <[email protected]>
> Sent: Thursday, September 16, 2021 4:45 PM
> To: Indology <[email protected]>
> Subject: [INDOLOGY] Inscriptions on Pala-type sculptures of Vishnu
>  
> Dear list,
> 
> In a little exhibition of Indian and Himalayan arts in Brussels (De Marteau 
> collection to be sold in auction by Bonhams
> https://www.bonhams.com/video/32650/#/MR3_main_index_key=sale&m3=3 
> <https://www.bonhams.com/video/32650/#/MR3_main_index_key=sale&m3=3> ), there 
> is a sculpture of Vishnu in the North-East/"Pala" style. 
> Such sculptures have been well documented in the works of Huntington or 
> Claudine Picron  - see by the latter:
> https://www.academia.edu/11955485/Limage_de_l%C3%82dimurti_V%C3%A2sudeva_au_Bihar_et_au_Bengale_du_5e_au_12e_si%C3%A8cle_Annali_dellIstituto_Universitario_Orientale_Naples_vol_45_1985_pp_437_481
>  
> <https://www.academia.edu/11955485/Limage_de_l%C3%82dimurti_V%C3%A2sudeva_au_Bihar_et_au_Bengale_du_5e_au_12e_si%C3%A8cle_Annali_dellIstituto_Universitario_Orientale_Naples_vol_45_1985_pp_437_481>
> https://www.academia.edu/20284978/The_Vishnu_Image_from_Sarisadah_in_the_Indian_Museum_Kolkata
>  
> <https://www.academia.edu/20284978/The_Vishnu_Image_from_Sarisadah_in_the_Indian_Museum_Kolkata>
> https://www.academia.edu/41463136/Bautze_Picron_2020_Unpublished_or_little_known_Visnu_Visvarupa_images_from_Eastern_India
>  
> <https://www.academia.edu/41463136/Bautze_Picron_2020_Unpublished_or_little_known_Visnu_Visvarupa_images_from_Eastern_India>
> 
> However, there is a short inscription on the pedestal (see picture attached).
> 
> <IMG_5393.jpeg>
> 
> 
> <IMG_5391.jpeg>
> 
> This seems not very common - from a quick check of images of similar 
> sculptures available online (see list below, from museums or auctions), I 
> found only one example in an auction in Köln (via Drouot)
> 
> https://www.drouotonline.com/l/15353995---stele-de-vishnu-pierre-noirc 
> <https://www.drouotonline.com/l/15353995---stele-de-vishnu-pierre-noirc>    
> 
> 
> <Inscription base Vishnu Drouot.jpeg>
> 
> My problem remains the precise reading/meaning of these two (genuine or added 
> later?) inscriptions (which does not make sense to me yet, as far as I am 
> able to read them).
> Best wishes,
> 
> Christophe
> 
> 
> https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vishnu_with_consorts,_India,_Pala_period,_12th_century_AD,_stone_-_Middlebury_College_Museum_of_Art_-_Middlebury,_VT_-_DSC08240.jpg
>  
> <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vishnu_with_consorts,_India,_Pala_period,_12th_century_AD,_stone_-_Middlebury_College_Museum_of_Art_-_Middlebury,_VT_-_DSC08240.jpg>
> https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/38120 
> <https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/38120>
> https://artmuseum.princeton.edu/collections/objects/28869 
> <https://artmuseum.princeton.edu/collections/objects/28869>
> http://jameelcentre.ashmolean.org/collection/3/per_page/25/offset/0/sort_by/date/object/12482
>  
> <http://jameelcentre.ashmolean.org/collection/3/per_page/25/offset/0/sort_by/date/object/12482>
> https://searchthecollection.nga.gov.au/object?uniqueId=102840 
> <https://searchthecollection.nga.gov.au/object?uniqueId=102840>
> https://www.alamyimages.fr/musee-national-de-l-inde-delhi-vishnu-11eme-siecle-a-d-pala-du-bengale-occidental-pierre-l-inde-image177655275.html
>  
> <https://www.alamyimages.fr/musee-national-de-l-inde-delhi-vishnu-11eme-siecle-a-d-pala-du-bengale-occidental-pierre-l-inde-image177655275.html>
> https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2014/06/pala-period-vishnu-idol-unearthed.html
>  
> <https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2014/06/pala-period-vishnu-idol-unearthed.html>
> https://www.artcurial.com/en/node/1122459 
> <https://www.artcurial.com/en/node/1122459> 
> https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/22316/lot/59/?category=list 
> <https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/22316/lot/59/?category=list>
> https://www.bonhams.com/online_auctions/26903/lot/1251 
> <https://www.bonhams.com/online_auctions/26903/lot/1251>
> 
> https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/26589/lot/89/ 
> <https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/26589/lot/89/>
> https://www.auction.fr/_fr/lot/stele-of-vishnu-in-black-stone-pala-period-north-india-pala-period-ad-760-1142-8587681
>  
> <https://www.auction.fr/_fr/lot/stele-of-vishnu-in-black-stone-pala-period-north-india-pala-period-ad-760-1142-8587681>
> https://www.auction.fr/_fr/lot/vishnu-stele-stein-bengalen-ost-indien-pala-11-12-jh-8959943
>  
> <https://www.auction.fr/_fr/lot/vishnu-stele-stein-bengalen-ost-indien-pala-11-12-jh-8959943>
> https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2021/indian-himalayan-southeast-asian-works-of-art/a-sandstone-figure-of-vishnu-pala-period-11th-12th
>  
> <https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2021/indian-himalayan-southeast-asian-works-of-art/a-sandstone-figure-of-vishnu-pala-period-11th-12th>
> https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2011/indian-southeast-asian-works-of-art-n08727/lot.16.html
>  
> <https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2011/indian-southeast-asian-works-of-art-n08727/lot.16.html>
> https://www.bada.org/object/carved-black-stone-stele-vishnu 
> <https://www.bada.org/object/carved-black-stone-stele-vishnu>   
> 
> 
> 
> 
> –––––––––––––––––––
> Christophe Vielle <https://uclouvain.be/en/directories/christophe.vielle>
> Louvain-la-Neuve
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
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