A catalogue of the Ashmolean’s collection of Indian art by J. C. Harle and Andrew Topsfield (published Oxford, 1987).
Goa became a Portuguese stronghold in the 16th century and a flourishing centre of Christianity. The Virgin Mary has long been revered there as a saviour from disasters and protectress of seafarers. This finely carved head is of a type also attributed to Far Eastern Catholic settlements such as Macao or Manila.
Harle, J. C., and Andrew Topsfield, Indian Art in the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 1987), no. 102 on pp. 90-91, illus. p. 91
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