N. Sivappa
Album Cover with Shiva as the Destroyer of the Three Cities of the Demons (Tripurantaka)circa 1875-1900

Not on view

Carved wooden panel, possibly a book cover, covered in dense multi-layered relief carvings of multi-armed figures, architectural friezes, and decorative borders, with silver hinges along the left edge

Intricately carved wooden relief panel depicting a multi-armed deity in dynamic stance at center, adorned with elaborate jewelry and crown, surrounded by attendant figures, foliage, and circular medallions; decorative frieze with elephants and architectural forms along the bottom border; warm golden-brown tone throughout.

Intricately carved wooden panel in warm golden-brown tones, featuring a vertical border of deity figures set within floral arches amid dense scrolling foliage, beside a high-relief scene of a multi-armed figure with elaborate jewelry and a procession of elephants and architectural elements below.

Terracotta relief panel with densely carved figural and architectural scenes arranged in horizontal registers; upper field shows celestial figures, animals, and sun medallions amid dynamic compositions; middle registers depict elephants, buildings, and processional scenes in fine low relief; lower register features rows of standing figures in traditional dress with intricate jewelry, all in warm reddish-brown clay

Intricately carved wooden panel with dense relief carving depicting multiple divine figures, attendants, and animals arranged in registers and medallions, with scrolling foliate borders and a fluted pilaster at right.

Rectangular wooden manuscript box with densely carved openwork scrolling foliage across the surface, featuring a central medallion with figural scene flanked by smaller animal figures, bound with engraved silver metal bands at each end, photographed against a black background.

Circular wood relief carving with beaded and petal borders enclosing a reclining figure adorned with a crown, jewelry, and elaborate ornaments, above a lower register of carved lotus and scrolling floral motifs.

Wooden book cover with finely carved geometric border, a raised central panel, and a small figural medallion at center; carved narrative scenes along the right spine, secured with two ornate metal clasps with trefoil ends.

Intricately carved wooden panel with multiple registers: a dense frieze of small human and celestial figures in procession above, and a larger lower panel depicting figures, a multi-hooded serpent, and birds within circular medallions, framed by scrolling floral borders. A small metal clasp is visible at left.

Artist or Maker: N. Sivappa
India, active circa 1870-1900
Title: Album Cover with Shiva as the Destroyer of the Three Cities of the Demons (Tripurantaka)
Place Made: India, Karnataka, Mysore, Sagar
Date Made: circa 1875-1900
Medium: Sandalwood; silver fittings
Dimensions: 14 7/8 x 13 x 4 in. (37.78 x 33.02 x 10.16 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of the Rubin-Ladd Foundation, Ester R. Portnow Collection
Accession Number: M.2003.213
Classification: Sculpture
Collecting Area: South and Southeast Asian Art
Curatorial Notes: Complexly carved of fragrant sandalwood, the central panel of this album cover depicts the Hindu god Shiva in his major iconic form of Tripurantaka, the Destroyer of the Three Cities of the Demons. Shiva shoots an arrow at three demonic warriors in circular fortifications in the upper right corner. His bow is a tree and his bowstring is a serpent. Shiva stands in a celestial chariot with the sun and moon as its wheels. The chariot is drawn by four horses representing the four Vedas, the four sacred books of proto-Hindu mythology. His charioteer is Brahma, the four-headed priestly Hindu god of creation. Shiva’s bull mount is in the lower left corner. Beneath the main scene are three architectural registers representing the golden city of the demons. It was located under the ocean, which is symbolized by the tiny head, tail, and feet of a tortoise at its base. This principal tableau is flanked by the twelve avatars of Vishnu and, across the top, are heroes of the ancient Indian epics, the Ramayana and Mahabharata. The cover’s spine is adorned with Vishnu and his wife Lakshmi heralded by rampant lions. Baby Krishna is in a central medallion on the otherwise undecorated back cover.
This intricately carved album cover epitomizes the sophisticated sandalwood carving produced by the renowned families of artists working in the Mysore region of present-day Karnataka. According to the inscription on the inside cover, it was made by N. Sivappa in Sagar. Numerous hereditary families of carvers and painters reputed to have originally hailed from Goa had settled in Sagar and other nearby locales. By 1800 they were producing a wide range of sandalwood furniture and personal accoutrements for both domestic and foreign clientele. Mysore sandalwood carving was regarded by contemporaneous art historians and critics as the finest in all of India.

Monday	11 am–6 pm
Tuesday	11 am–6 pm
Wednesday	Closed
Thursday	11 am–6 pm
Friday	11 am–8 pm
Saturday	10 am–7 pm
Sunday	10 am–7 pm