A LARGE VIRABHADRA PLAQUE, WESTERN DECCAN, INDIA, 18TH CENTURY, of waisted rectangular form, the form armed form of Siva holding sword, shield, bow and arrow, Nandi and sun and moon emblems above, sheltering under a five-headed cobra, wearing sandals, flanked by Daksha and Sati, a handle at the back, 28 x 20cm

For a similar plaque in the Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, see Pal 2003, p.303. Daksha offended Siva by not inviting him to attend a sacrifice following an earlier occasion when Siva had slighted him. Sati, who was Daksha's daughter, as well as being Siva's wife, was present and felt so insulted that she threw herself on the pyre. Then Siva appeared as Virabhadra and cut off Daksha's head to avenge his wife. Other gods pleaded for Daksha's life, but although Siva decided to spare him, his severed head could not be found, so the head of a goat was substituted instead. Daksha is depicted with hands in namaskara mudra, humbly paying respects, while at the bottom, he appears prior to the replacement head

Provenance: Collection of the late Peter Millett (1925-2016), see lot 270 for further details