id:			144279
accession number:	1969.117
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1969.117
updated:		2023-04-23 11:15:56.617000

Trident with Shiva as Half-Woman (Ardhanarishvara), c. 1050. South India, Tamil Nadu, Chola period (900-13th Century). Bronze; overall: 39.6 cm (15 9/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1969.117

title:				Trident with Shiva as Half-Woman (Ardhanarishvara)
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			c. 1050
creation date earliest:		1050
creation date latest:		1050
current location:		244 Indian and Southeast Asian
creditline:			Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
copyright:			

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culture:	South India, Tamil Nadu, Chola period (900-13th Century)
technique:	bronze
department:	Indian and Southeast Asian Art
collection:	Indian Art
type:		Sculpture
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Overall: 39.6 cm (15 9/16 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Year in Review: 1969
	opening date:   1970-01-27T05:00:00
	<i>Year in Review: 1969</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 27-February 22, 1970).

	title:		Traditions and Revisions: Themes from the History of Sculpture
	opening date:   1975-09-24T04:00:00
	<i>Traditions and Revisions: Themes from the History of Sculpture</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 24-November 16, 1975).

	title:		The Sensuous and the Sacred: Chola Bronzes from South India
	opening date:   2002-11-10T00:00:00
	<i>The Sensuous and the Sacred: Chola Bronzes from South India</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 6-September 14, 2003).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

	(William H. Wolff [1906-1991], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
	date: ?-1969
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art,
	date: 1969-
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact:


digital description:


wall description:
The form of the trident—the main weapon of the Hindu god Shiva—dramatically and elegantly encircles his form in which the left side is female and the right side is male. The male side has the matted locks of a yogi piled high on his head; he holds an ax and leans on his mount, the bull. The female side has a jeweled crown, earring, full breast, broad hips, long skirt, and only one arm. The lower hands probably held a stringed instrument. This particular iconic form of Shiva visually indicates that he embodies all phenomena, even if they seem contradictory. He is male and female, destructive and creative, yogi and royal sovereign, hunter and musician.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	Pal, Pratapaditya. <em>Krishna: the Cowherd King.</em> [Los Angeles]: [Los Angeles County Museum of Art], 1972.
	page number: 	Reproduced: p. 23, #10; mentioned: p. 24
	url:		

	The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.
	page number: 	Reproduced: p. 299
	url:		https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n319

	Cunningham, Michael R., Stanislaw J. Czuma, Anne E. Wardwell, and J. Keith Wilson. <em>Masterworks of Asian Art</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1998.
	page number: 	Reproduced: pp. 148-149
	url:		

	Dehejia, Vidya, Richard H. Davis, Irā Nākacāmi, and Karen Pechilis. <em>The Sensuous and the Sacred: Chola Bronzes from South India</em>. New York: American Federation of Arts, 2002.
	page number: 	Reproduced:  cat. no. 26, pp. 146-149
	url:		

	Fernando, Christopher, Vivian Kung Haga, and Chantal Legros. <em>Beyond Beauty: What Is Real Beauty?</em> San Diego, Calif: Museum of Photographic Arts, 2005.
	page number: 	
	url:		

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1969.117/1969.117_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1969.117/1969.117_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1969.117/1969.117_full.tif