Torso of a Male Deity sandstone India, Gupta Period

A monumental torso of a male deity, most probably Trivikrama ('Conqueror of the three worlds'), wearing a short dhoti tucked in at the front forming a row of pleats and secured by a patterned belt with a jeweled buckle, a thick swathe of twisted cloth around the loins is tied in a lose knot, and a beaded upavita lies diagonally across the chest.

Nasli M. and Alice N. Heeramaneck collects ion
Pan-Asian collects ion
Sothebys, New York, June 2, 1992, lot 59

Alice N. Heeramaneck, Masterpieces of Indian Sculpture from the former collects ions of Nasli M. Heeramaneck, 1979, fig. 35.

The torso broken unevenly at mid chest level. The right leg broken mid thigh, the left leg broken just below the hip and so the twisted fabric over it is also missing. On the left side of the figure a large area broken away, likewise at the back of the right leg the stone is cut away. Chips and scratches to surface over all most notably on the chest area and upavita. Areas of soil encrustation and deposits. No restoration.
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The left leg, now broken, appears to have been extended and raised indicating the three huge strides that Trivikrama made to measure the universe. Hindu's believe that Vishnu descends to earth in a suitable form to help when evil forces are at work. When the titan king Bali was seeking to control both the earth and the heavens Vishnu appeared as a dwarf, Vamana, and tricked the king into giving him all the land he could cover with three steps. When the king agreed Vamana transformed into the huge figure of Trivikrama and took three enormous strides which covered the earth, the heavens and the infernal regions, transporting Bali there to eternal damnation. Compare the thick sash around the loins, a common feature of Gupta sculpture, and a characteristic reminiscent of Mathura images from the Kushan period, to that on a figure of Vasudeva in the National Museum of India, New Delhi published in Calambur Sivaramamurti, The Art of India, New York, 1977, p. 376, fig. 448.