Hand-Painted Vietnam White Marble Standing Saraswati, 30in

Saraswati as the musician

This is Saraswati the way most music and dance students picture her: standing, not seated, with the veena held across her body and her head tilted gently over the strings. Her body settles into a soft tribhanga, the three-bend stance of Indian sculpture, so the weight drops onto one hip and the whole figure seems to sway with the note she is playing. She stands on an open lotus, and her hamsa, the white swan that is her vahana, rests at her feet. At 30 inches she is large enough to greet people at a reception desk or the entrance of a practice hall, and still small enough to sit on a sturdy console or pedestal.

The four hands and what they hold

She is shown four-armed, two arms on each side, in the canonical way. The front pair play the veena: one hand at the strings near the gourd, the other along the neck. The back right hand raises an akshamala, the rosary of japa and concentration, and the back left hand holds a palm-leaf book, the pustaka that stands for learning and the written word. Together they say what she presides over: music, knowledge and steady practice. She is fully dressed in a draped sari over a fitted choli, with the pallu brought across the torso, a tall crown, layered necklaces, bangles and armlets, and a small tilak on a calm, youthful face with lowered eyes and a gentle smile.

Vietnam white marble, painted by hand

The figure is carved from Vietnam white marble, a bright, fine-grained stone with a clean, slightly cool white that takes a satin polish well. Over the carving, the colour is laid in by hand. The sari stays white, as Saraswati's always does, but its broad borders are picked out in gold and red, following the pleats and the fall of the pallu. The crown and jewellery are gilded, the skin is given a soft warm tone, and the lotus is washed pink at the petals. The swan is left white. The stepped plinth below is kept as plain polished stone, so the colour sits on the goddess and the marble still shows underneath. Because the details are carved first, the borders and ornaments have real relief; the paint follows the stone rather than drawing detail on a flat surface.

Where she belongs

Saraswati is the goddess people turn to before an exam, a first lesson or a performance, and Vasant Panchami is her day. A standing, painted Saraswati suits places where that devotion is part of daily life: a music or dance academy, a school reception, a library or reading room, or a teacher's study. The colour makes her readable from across a room, which matters in a lobby, and the white sari keeps her quiet enough for a place of study. For a home pooja room she can stand on a low pedestal so her face sits at eye level.

Size, weight and placement

The piece stands 30 inches tall including the plinth, about 13 inches wide at the veena and 10 inches deep, and weighs around 45 kg. Place her indoors on a level, stable surface, away from direct sun and damp so the paint keeps its colour. Wipe her with a soft dry cloth; avoid water, cleaners and polish on the painted areas. If you need her in a different height, a different border colour, or the plain white stone without paint, tell us and we will work it into the design.