Stele with Shiva Trident, Ax, and Vase of Plenty

second half of the 7th century

Not on view

Returned to lender

This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.

This stele evokes the presence of the supreme Hindu deity Shiva by devoting the entire composition to his attribute par excellence, the trident (trishula), depicted emerging from a bulbous vase of plenty (purnaghata), with Shiva’s wide-bladed ax projecting from one side. The association of the woodsman’s ax with Shiva is a particularly south Indian trait. The dedicatory inscription identifies the donor as an eighty-year-old member of the Pasupata sect of ascetic Brahmans. They emerged as the dominant Shaiva group in early Cambodia and are named in two early seventh-century inscriptions as the recipient of royal grants.

cat. no. 84

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

Exhibition History

Title: Stele with Shiva Trident, Ax, and Vase of Plenty
Period: Pre-Angkor period
Date: second half of the 7th century
Culture: Southeastern Cambodia
Medium: Shale
Dimensions: H. 40 3/16 in. (102 cm); W. 16 1/8 in. (41 cm); D. 7 1/8 in. (18 cm); Wt. 285 lbs (129.3 kg)
Classification: Sculpture
Credit Line: Lent by National Museum of Cambodia, Phnom Penh (Ka.1741)
Curatorial Department: Asian Art