The god standing on seven intertwined snakes: Ananta, Sesha, Takshaka, Karkota, Padma, Mahapadma and Sankhapala, with a diminutive figure of his vehicle, Garuda, at his feet.

Provenance: Private Collection, France.

In Nepalese art, Vishnu is often represented lying on the serpent raft of Ananta, but here, in a rarer depiction, Vishnu is encircled by seven snakes, each representing one of the seven islands of the world. For a slightly smaller representation of this unusual form of Vishnu in the Norton Simon Museum, see Art from the Himalayas and China by Pratapaditya Pal, no.69.