Carving of a fragmentary Good Shepherd - Lot 258

Carving of a fragmentary Good Shepherd Ivory India, Goa, 17th century H. 8 cm Weight : 54,3g The young Jesus, missing his legs and base, is depicted as the Good Shepherd, eyes half-closed and smiling meditatively, resting his head in his right hand. With his left hand, he caresses a lamb on his lap, while a second lamb rests on his right shoulder. The statuette traditionally rested on a pyramid-shaped base, decorated with a fountain where other lambs are drinking, and with Mary Magdalene reclining in the lower part, reading the Scriptures. A comparable statuette is in the LACMA - Los Angeles County Museum of Art (M. 86. 187) and published in: Pal, P. (1988) Indian Sculpture, Los Angeles : Los Angeles County Museum of Art, University of California Press, Vol. 2, p. 236, N°120. Another Good Shepherd figure is in the collections of the British Museum, London (1856,0623. 161). Finally, a Good Shepherd figure in polychrome ivory is in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (A. 27-1984). CITES certificate issued on 17/11/2023