Indian Mukha or Face Lingam / Cover with Cobra Hood

Shiva, in cast metal, keeps a cobra for a halo.

This mukha, or face lingam cover, is cast in bronze in India and dated in the record to the 17th century. Covers of this kind are commonly placed over a lingam in Shaiva worship, giving the abstract form a human face. A serene head with a tilak mark on the brow rises from a stepped, domed base on a square plinth. Behind it a five-hooded cobra spreads wide. The metal has the soft yellow gleam of old brass, polished in places by long handling, and it rests on four small feet.

About 12 inches tall. Calm, symmetrical, quietly authoritative.