Varadaraja with Consorts, Attendents and Incarnations.

      Locality unknown. Height of Varadaraja 13.5 cm; of Devis 11 cm. Total height of stand and prabha 40 cm. About 17th Century AD.

      The three principal images are of copper with the others being of brass.

      The three principal images with Jaya and Vijaya the door keepers of Vaikuntha (Vishnu's Heaven) on either side of them, rest in sockets on an elaborate stand supported by Garuda with lions on either side of him. Above them is the prabha with a makara on each side at the base of the arched upper portion, a five headed cobra forming a canopy over Varadaraja; above this cobra are the ten principal  incarnations of Vishnu, the whole prabha being surmounted by the head of a yali.

      The three principal images are rather crude, and the only special interest attaching to the set lies in their elaborate and somewhat better executed setting. The door-keepers front inner hands rest on clubs, their outer ones being in the abhaya pose. Their back hands hold the discus and conch, the usual order being reversed in the case of Vijaya for the sake of symmetry.

Vatapatrasayi

    Locality unknown. Leaf with stalk 8.5 cm. Long. Brass. About 17th century AD.

    This is an inferior image in European rather than Indian style, in which it forms a marked contrast to all others in the collection.

Venugopala with Consorts

     Chimakurti, Ongole Taluk, Guntur District. Andhra Pradesh.  Height of Venugopala 17 cm; and his consorts 14 cm. About 11th Century AD.

     This is an elaborately designed and beautifully finished set. Venugopala's hair is tied in  an almost spherical kesa-bandha, secured by a band that extends over it from one side to the other, and decorated with flowers below. Neither of his consorts have a breastband; both wear karanda makutas and a long necklace that hangs between the breasts. All the three figures have patrakundalas in their ears.