The Hindu deities Shiva and Parvati with their son Skanda

Many southern Indian images of Shiva, like this one, hold a battle-ax and a deer. “Hold” is perhaps not the right word: sometimes, especially in sculptures from later centuries, a deity’s symbolic implements appear not so much held as elegantly balanced on the tips of the fingers. The prongs on either side of the throne would have supported a horseshoe-shaped bronze halo (now lost) arching over the figures. The metal rings on the base suggest that this sculpture would have been carried in procession during important religious festivals.

A long Telugu-language inscription on the front of the throne tells the name of the donor (and his father and grandfather) and says that the sculpture was made for the Ekambareshvara [Ekambaranatha] Temple in the city of Kanchipuram.

Bronzes similar to this one, showing Shiva and his wife and son, had, by this period, been made for several centuries.