Indian Tantric Lingam on Steel Base

No face, no limbs, no ornament. That is rather the point.

This tantric lingam on a steel base comes from India, and its age is indeterminate. It is quartz crystal with iron oxide inclusions. In Hindu tradition the lingam is an aniconic form of Shiva, a presence shown without a figure, and smooth natural egg-shaped stones have long been venerated in this way. Polished dark, it shows swirling concentric bands of grey and brown, crossed by a single thin red line. It rests on a plain square steel plinth. Fifteen and a half inches high and 10.75 across.

It asks for no explanation and offers none.