GANDHARA, 4TH/5TH CENTURY

Details

A Terracotta Head of a Bodhisattva
Gandhara, 4th/5th Century
Well modeled with rounded face, downcast eyes, aquiline nose, and round pierced earlobes, with wavy hair on his temples, surmounted by an elaborate headdress centered by a lotus bud and floral medallion flanked by writhing dragons at the sides, the face with remains of white slip and features outlined in red
9½ in. (24 cm.) high

Special notice

This lot is offered subject to a reserve, which is the confidential minimum price below which the lot will not be sold.

Lot Essay

The modeling is of great sensitivity and the headdress is an unusual type of turban incorporating the rare decoration of a dragon; compare the terracotta head of a youthful male from the collection of Samuel Eilenberg at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, see M. Lerner and S. Kossak, The Lotus Transcendent, 1991, cat. no. 74.

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