A SCHIST FIGURE OF BUDDHA


ANCIENT REGION OF GANDHARA, 3RD/4TH CENTURY27 3/4 in. (70.5 cm) high
|犍陀羅 三/四世紀 片巖佛像 The artist has carved a commanding sculpture of Buddha clad in a voluminous pleated robe with an arresting gaze. A diminutive bearded figure, possibly Vajrapani, with a bare torso and simple lower garment, stands as if leaning against the Buddha with his elevated right elbow. Three other examples of large standing Buddhas attended to by diminutive figures are held in the Peshawar Museum (Kurita, Gandharan Art, Vol.I, Tokyo, 2003, pp.161-2, nos.310-312). Buddha's slightly squat proportions, broad, mustachioed face with large ears, and thick hair pulled in straight line over the ushinisha follow a convention favored by Gandharan art of Swat Valley. Compare a seated Buddha held in the Royal Ontario Museum that also has a band of rosettes across the base (Kurita, Gandharan Art, II, Tokyo, 2003, p. 101, no. 264). Also compare Bonhams, New York, 19 March 2018, lot 3063. Provenance Dr. H. Erlenmeyer (1900-1967), Basel E. Boos, Lausanne Piguet, Geneva, 29 May 2015, lot 458