mysterious creature
 

Hello! What kind of creature do you think is depicted on the knuckle guard of this Khanjarli?

Very nice piece, Dmitry!

It's a humanized fat-tailed gecko, I'm sure... :cool: :rolleyes: ;)

Any chance it might be a composite of several features?

Regards,
Kai

It could be Matsya, a reincarnation of the goddess Vishnu who saved the world from flood. I would date it early to mid 18th century. Nice piece!

Vishnu was a god: male.
Matsya by definition is a "fish". The creature does not look like one.

Scorpion?

Ask Erich von Däniken! :rolleyes:

Vishnu does have a (transgender?) female avatar, Mohini, who is a seductress. He/she seduces Shiva in an attempt to make the latter more worldly. They may have had a son, Ayyappa. All this is very confusing because Mohini did not have a uterus and may have given birth from her thigh. Long story short, there are representations of Vishnu/Mohini that are female.

Many thanks to everyone for their opinions.

I am with Sajen,
Looks like something from Area 51.

If I use my imagination I can see a man with a V neck cloak with hands clasped in front praying?

no legs like a Casper the ghost character

Regards

Ken
PS a very nice piece indeed.

Am I being simple or could a level of meaning be the deification of the chilanam itself? The silhouette is an uncanny resemblance.

Apparently, this Khanjarli currently belongs to Mahratt. True?

It was first shown in the Russian book “ Mortal Beauty”( State Museum of the Orient, 2015, item # 84).
Museum items were shown separately, so it seems that this Khanjarli used to belong to one of the two private collectors, Messr. Popov and Kormshchikov, who provided items from their collections for the exhibition.

Seems to me the previous owner might possess important information about the mysterious figure.

I am a little late but I have no doubts that it is Matsya, the first avatar of Visnu.

If you examine the carving carefully you may notice it has four arms. Two lowered and two raised above the head. Very similar to the figure from another Khanjarli with the ten avatars of Vishnu.

I attach some illustrations for reference.

Marius,
Very convincing.
Excellent detective work!

Hi Marius,

Great identification! :cool:

Regards,
Detlef

Thank you very much, Marius!

A very detailed and undoubtedly correct explanation.