Indian Pilgrimage Folk Shiva with Nandi

Figures on a bench, a bent tree above them, and a story we only half hear.

Indian craftsmen cast this pilgrimage folk bronze of Shiva with Nandi, dated in the record to the 18th century or earlier. Folk bronzes of this type are commonly associated with village worship and carried home from pilgrimage. Here several small, slender figures sit and stand on and around an open, grid-sided platform. Slim posts rise at the back and meet in a sweep of crossed branches. The bronze is greenish yellow, with a dark, pitted surface.

About 4 inches tall. Tiny, cluttered and vividly alive.