INDIA, MATHURA REGION, GUPTA PERIOD, CIRCA 3RD CENTURY

This small but rare head once belonged to the figure of a Jina, one of the saviours of the Jain religion. The absence of cranial protuberance indicates that it is not a figure of Buddha. The mottled red stone as well as the style of the carving both point at the Mathura region as the geographical origin. It appears that Jain images were very popular in the Mathura region during that period, even more than images of the Buddha himself.