Stone sculpture of a dancing Ganesh, India, 19th - 20th century Depicted standing on a lotus, one leg slightly raised, sketching a dance step. With eight arms and hands bearing the usual attributes. The upper left and right hands hold a trophy snake, while another is drawn across his chest like a sacred thread, both attributes linking Ganesh to his father, Shiva. On his right, he holds the mala (a rosary made up of the fifty elements that make up the fifty letters of the Sanskrit alphabet) and the broken tusk used to write sacred texts, with his fourth arm turned towards his chest. On his left side, from top to bottom, he holds the parashu (axe, Shiva's classic weapon, which destroys desire and attachment and thus removes agitation and sorrow) and the modaka, cake or bowl of sweets (modakapatra), symbolizing the sweetness that rewards the seeker of truth. His last hand in buddhi (or varana) mudra. He is accompanied by two musicians at his feet: Go-karna and Gaja-karna, as well as the rat at the bottom of the lotiform base. Height : 37 cm