Bronze Mūkha-liṅga (mask), Western India, 19th century

A rare ritual bronze mask crafted using the lost-wax method, designed to cover the top of the linga and anthropomorphize the aniconic emblem of Śiva during the śaiva cult. The face, with heavy eyelids closed in meditation, is sculpted with geometric simplicity: a strong, triangular nose with a hole in the nostril (for a ring or pin), a slit-shaped mouth with small "teeth" incisions, large ears with pierced lobes for earrings, and, at the center of the forehead, a circular sign that serves as a tilaka/ūrṇā, an unmistakable declaration of the śaiva sphere. The broad skullcap is rendered as a continuous jaṭā-mukuṭa—a "dome" of compacted locks—with dense incised striations that evoke the god's braided tresses. The surprisingly well-preserved interior displays a rich patina from contact with ointments, smoke, and offerings. Ritually polished surfaces and an internal ridge that facilitates seating on the linga are distinguishable. The luminous alloy, with its consistent patina, imparts a particularly vivid golden sheen, while the weight is considerable for a mask of this size, consistent with a generous casting thickness and a temple rather than processional use.
The formal reading – almond-shaped eye with thickened edges, wedge-shaped nose, simplification of the volumes and “scoop-shaped” ears – orients towards western India (Maharashtra or Gujarat or the Deccan area), where the austere bronze mūkha-liṅga were fixed to the liṅga during particular festivities to “give face” to Śiva.
A work of large format and notable plastic presence, very suggestive in the dialogue between the severity of the model and the warmth of the patina.