Love for bronzes
PRADEEP CHAKRAVARTHY
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V.N.Srinivasa Desikan has worked with ancient bronzes for almost three decades. And even after his retirement, he is consulted and frequently asked to lecture on them.
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Photo: R. Shivaji Rao
Romance with the metal: Srinivasa Desikar.
Once upon a time, a little boy in a temple was entranced at the sight of the water poured from the conch on to a sieve that showered on the bronze images. As the water travelled across the icon, it highlighted every line and curve, of the stunningly beautiful image and of the simple yet exquisite ornaments, the serenity of that emanated from the half-closed eyes and the winsome smile.
The aesthetics of ancient bronze images made a powerful image on this boy and while there were no courses to study this in 1950s, he did his graduation in History and then a Masters in Sanskrit. He jumped up to take a temporary post in the Museum and soon, he became part of the team responsible for the collection of bronzes. There were no experts or resources those days and knowledge was gained from ceaseless site visits.
When knowledge of the bronzes was more prevalent then it meant visits to courts and working with the police helping them track down thieves who stole bronzes.
Hard work and that love for aesthetics paid off, Dr.V.N.Srinivasa Desikan (b.1934) served the Madras Museum as the Curator for Art and Archaeology, Assistant director of Museums South Indian bronzes for almost three decades. Since his retirement, he continues to be consulted on bronzes and is frequently asked to lecture on them _ to students of art or to those in the Government service who need to prevent the theft or export of these treasures.
I caught up with him and he spoke of his love for bronzes and gave information both for the connoisseur as well as for the aesthetically inspired layman. Information on dating was particularly valuable since bronzes rarely have casting dates inscribed on them and dating knowledge is the result of years of study and research. Even this information is only broadly specific and there will be exceptions.
The oldest bronzes we have are from the 7th century and from then to date, the process is the same regardless of whether the final image is solid or hollow. A wax mould is made of the image, which is coated with many layers of clay. Then the molten metal is poured. The metal melts the wax and takes its shape.
Lost wax procedure
The clay mould is broken and the image is then given the final details. This is known as the lost wax process or ‘cire perdue’. An alloy of five metals are used _ copper, brass, lead, gold and silver. The last two in smaller quantities since they were considered ‘jiva dhatus’ _ that which provided sacredness to the image.
In the Pallava period (7-9th Century), the worship was mostly in rock cut/monolith temples where there was a painting and a small spatika linga/salagrama so images were few in number and typically small _ just 10 inches.
There are a few images of this period in the Museum collection and one of the images in Tirupati is from this period. Since they were not frequently ordered, the artisans spent a lot of time on the finesse.
Images of this time are characterised by oval shaped faces, eyes that are half closed, the lips finely worked, chin polished. The attributes are naturally held (e.g. Vishnu’s discus is grasped by his entire palm). And face the head of the image rather than outside (e.g. Shiva’s leaping deer faces inward). Upper arms of the deity start from the elbows. These images are overall marked by a fine sense of naturalness and grace.
Taking of bronzes, you can’t omit the Cholas _ the dynasty that commissioned most of the bronzes we have. The Chola age of 10 th Century to 13th was one of intense activity, the Vaishnavaite and Shaivate saints were popularising religion and more and more kings began do build lavishly. The increased temple building and religious fervour called for more celebrations in temples. Temple rituals and festivals became more complex and they needed many more movable processional deities; so suddenly artisans had their order books full.
The increased interest was great initially since they gave artisans to create the most brilliant images. Most images became at least a foot, sometimes even 4-5. Aesthetics began to get greater importance with greater detail, especially jewels and drapery. Attributes are held with two fingers and they face outwards. The aureole of Nataraja, moves to even elliptical forms. Head gear becomes more conical than cylindrical and faces become more circular and noses sharper.
Towards the close of the Chola empire, though there was a masterpiece turned out now and then, increased orders meant that the master craftsman had little time and he would frequently be able to give only finishing touches and assistants tended to rely more on fixed templates.
From this period and in the Vijaynagar-Nayak reign, images tended to become rigid and formal with more attention to detail than to the overall form. Noses and chins in particular become sharper and the entire figure became formal and rigid in appearance.
Concluding our meeting, I asked him for a list of his favourites and why he picked them up, the list was so long and the reasons so fascinating that, it befits an account of its own!!
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