18th Century Hand Carved Wooden Corbel. Hindu. Temple. Architectural. Wenge Wood. Sculpture. Tamil Nadu. India.
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A stunning and sizable corbel hand carved in Wenge wood with a horse riding deity (most likely Shiva) and a subordinate horse below. It reminds me of the monolithic pillars with sculptures of riders on the backs of wild horses . . . trampling their enemies below. Such sculptures are found in many temples around southern India such as the Sri Ranganathaswamy Dravidian Temple, Srirangam, state of Tamil Nadu.
I have seen many of these corbel, primarily from the 19th century but this is the first I have been about to acquire that is older . . . and from a lifelong collector of Hindu corbels.
A rare find in very good condition considering its age.
For the Serious Collector of Hindu / Dravidian temple carvings.