Goddess Durga on tiger; India Mughal period, 18th-19th centuries.

Goddess Durga on a tiger; India Mughal period, 18th-19th century.
Carved and polychromed alabaster.
The polychromy is damaged.
Measurements: 14.5 x 9.5 x 3 cm.
The goddess Durga, which in Sanskrit means "inaccessible" or "invincible". She is one of the manifestations of Devi, the supreme goddess, and she is usually represented with multiple arms, sometimes riding a lion or a tiger, carrying both weapons and flowers in her hands. In this case, it is an extremely synthetic piece, symbolic rather than naturalistic. The figure stands on a high pedestal that evokes an altar.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Mughal style was widespread in India, generally limited to miniatures, either as book illustrations or as individual works. These are realist-style paintings with lavishly decorated compositions, full of detail and characters depicted in an idealised manner using standardised features, such as those seen in these court scenes. Another of the particularities of this artistic style was the visual work in the superimposition of objects, finding scenes without depth composed of figures in hieratic profile.