Rita Perry, born on May 18th, 1928 in Germany, had a unique eye for Gandharan art, fine-tuned by her worldly travels and archeological expertise. Her knowledge and passion for the subject is deeply felt in her carefully curated collection, amassed over several years. Beginning her career as a polyglot, she studied interpretation in Spanish and English at the Dolmetscher Institut der Universität Heidelberg and worked as an interpreter before spending a year at Rice University in the United States, studying history and political science. It was there that she met Wiley William Perry, a student of architecture, whom she married in 1951, and with whom she would embark on her worldwide travels and discover Gandharan art. Remaining in the United States after her fellowship year at Rice University, she worked as a secretary for the well-known architect, Howard Barnstone. She became an American citizen before she and her husband embarked on their worldwide excursion in 1952, beginning with travels to Germany, Italy, Spain and France. In the summer of 1953, the couple moved to Casablanca in Morocco, where William worked at the Nouasseur Air Force Base, and where they started their family, with the birth of their daughter, Ellen, in 1953, followed by their son Stephen in 1955. In the spring of 1956, the young family moved on to Pakistan, where their second daughter, Julia, was born in 1957. Later that year they moved to Paris, where their last daughter, Diana, was born. The family remained in Paris until 1961, after which William and Rita Perry, both fascinated and challenged by foreign cultures, moved to Pakistan. In Karachi, Rita began to volunteer at the National Museum and in 1962 obtained the French diploma at the Alliance Française in Karachi. It was during this time that Rita first began collecting, starting with a few significant works from the Gandharan region. Rita truly began to delve into archeology in 1963, when the couple separated and she moved with their four children and collection to Heidelberg. Pursuing her growing passion for Gandharan art, she began to study archaeology at the University of Heidelberg, Archäologisches Institut der Universität Heidelberg, supplementing her courses with travels through Pakistan and India during the winter of 1964-65. Two years later, she graduated and from then on, she worked in Basel, Switzerland as an archaeologist for the renowned Muenzen und Medaillen AG. In 1997, her master's thesis on Campana reliefs was published by Verlag Philipp von Zabern. Retirement did not stop her intellectual pursuits as she remained active in local politics, founding both the Society of Kanderner city library and a community foundation. So influential in her local community, she received the Public Service Medal of the city Kandern for her volunteer work. Rita never put her archaeological work to rest, making discoveries until the very end. During the last 12 years of her life, she devoted herself intensively to her Gandharan collection, making her final corrections and mailing her last article just the day before she passed in 2012. Her last scientific article on the turban ornament of the collection was published posthumously in 2014. Rita shared her passion for Gandharan art with renowned collector, Samuel Eilenberg, to whom she sold a work from her collection, now possibly at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1987.142.66). Rita Perry is survived by her five children and three grandchildren.

A STUCCO HEAD OF BUDDHA

GANDHARA, 4TH/5TH CENTURY

Details

A STUCCO HEAD OF BUDDHA
GANDHARA, 4TH/5TH CENTURY
The rounded face expertly modeled in a serene expression, with a bow-shaped mouth and almond-shaped eyes beneath arched eyebrows, the hair rendered by round depressions and surmounted by an ushnisha, the surface finely polished

7 ¾ in. (19.7 cm.) high

Provenance

Collection of Rita Perry, Lörrach, Germany, acquired between 1963-1972

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Leiko Coyle

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