A LACQUERED WOOD HEAD OF NARASIMHA, 18TH CENTURY Southern India. Boldly carved with large bulging eyes and prominent lids and brows, flanked by funnel-shaped ears, above a broad nose with widely flared nostrils, the mouth agape revealing tongue and teeth, all framed by the curled mane.

Provenance: Harlan J. Berk, Chicago. A private collector in Texas, USA, acquired from the above. Harlan J. Berk is an important Chicago-based dealer of ancient coins and small antiquities. The family-owned business was founded in 1964 and remains active to this day.
Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age, and displaying extraordinary well. Extensive wear, losses, small chips, age cracks, minor old repairs. Numerous layers of lacquer and pigment renewed over the centuries. With a consistent, natural patina overall.

Weight: 11.7 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 43 cm (excl. stand) and 60 cm (incl. stand)

Mounted to an associated metal stand. (2)

Narasimha is a fierce avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu, who incarnates in the form of part lion and part man, to destroy evil and to end religious persecution and calamity on Earth, thereby restoring Dharma. Narasimha is known primarily as the ‘Great Protector’ who specifically defends and protects his devotees. The most popular Narasimha legend is where he defends his devotee Prahlada, and creatively destroys Prahlada's demonic father, the tyrant Hiranyakashipu.

Literature comparison: Compare a closely related lacquered wood head of Narasimha, as part of a mask ensemble, also attributed to southern India, dated ca. 1700-1750, in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 2015.255.1a–f.