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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Christine Steingass, post: 13100451, member: 114460&quot;]I did some digging on this one. I believe you&#039;re definitely looking at an Indian Hindu figure rather than a Native American/totem figure, and Virabhadra is a strong possibility.</p><p><br /></p><p>The British Museum has documented Virabhadra figures showing him as a four-armed warrior deity carrying a sword, shield, bow and arrow. That combination is particularly interesting here because your figure has all four arms/hands intact and still retains the round shield, while the other hands look capable of originally holding separate attributes.</p><p><br /></p><p>British Museum example:</p><p><a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1940-0716-29" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1940-0716-29" rel="nofollow">https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1940-0716-29</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Another documented Virabhadra with sword, shield, bow and arrows:</p><p><a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1923-0306-2" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1923-0306-2" rel="nofollow">https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1923-0306-2</a></p><p><br /></p><p>There&#039;s also a South Indian four-armed Shiva/guardian figure in the University of Michigan Museum of Art with weapons, shield, heavy chest jewelry, crown, wide eyes and prominent moustache, which gives another useful comparison for the general South Indian iconographic tradition:</p><p><a href="https://umma.umich.edu/objects/shiva-standing-1978-2-116/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://umma.umich.edu/objects/shiva-standing-1978-2-116/" rel="nofollow">https://umma.umich.edu/objects/shiva-standing-1978-2-116/</a></p><p><br /></p><p>I wouldn&#039;t call yours definitively Virabhadra yet because identifying Hindu figures depends heavily on the attributes held in the individual hands, and some of yours appear to be missing.</p><p><br /></p><p>Could you possibly post a clear picture of the underside/bottom of the pedestal? I&#039;d really like to see whether there are any markings, labels, numbers, inscriptions or construction details down there. A good photo of the back would also help. Those may give us a better shot at determining where and when it was made.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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