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Lot Essay
The present work is a powerful paragon of the Gandharan Buddhist sculptural tradition, with its emphasis on naturalism and classical ideals of physiognomy. The life-size figure sits in the lotus position, with the torso held upright, and the hands folded in the meditation gesture on the lap. The lithe musculature is partially covered with lavish folds of drapery, skillfully and deeply rendered following the Hellenized style of the period. The jewelry, however, is characteristically South Asian, with a circular torque around the neck, a thick rope-form braid terminating in beast-form clasps, and a single thread draped across the chest and supporting cylindrical reliquary chambers; examples of which still exist, including a precious-stone-inlaid gold reliquary chamber with circular lugs for attachment to a thread in the collection of the British Museum, illustrated by W. Zwalf in A Catalogue of the Gandhara Sculpture in the British Museum, vol. II, London, 1996, p. 351, fig. 668.
The present work is particularly distinguished by the presence of the small figure at the center of the torque, backed by a crescent-moon-shaped medallion. While it is impossible to identify the figure authoritatively, there is precedent in Gandharan art for the lunar deity, referred to in the Hindu tradition as Chandra, to be represented as a youthful male backed by a similar, upward-pointing crescent-moon-shaped nimbus. A schist fragment in a private collection in Japan, illustrated by Isao Kurita in Gandharan Art I, Tokyo, 2003, depicts the deity backed by the crescent nimbus above a scene where Siddhartha slips out of the palace in the middle of the night. See, also, a large schist relief in the Karachi Museum, illustrated by H. Ingholt in Gandharan Art in Pakistan, New York, 1957, fig. 39 A-B, which depicts the same scene. The presence of a lunar deity on the jewelry of the present seated bodhisattva is testament to the syncretic nature of Buddhism in this early period, adopting deities from the Hindu and Iranian pantheons freely.
The present work is particularly distinguished by the presence of the small figure at the center of the torque, backed by a crescent-moon-shaped medallion. While it is impossible to identify the figure authoritatively, there is precedent in Gandharan art for the lunar deity, referred to in the Hindu tradition as Chandra, to be represented as a youthful male backed by a similar, upward-pointing crescent-moon-shaped nimbus. A schist fragment in a private collection in Japan, illustrated by Isao Kurita in Gandharan Art I, Tokyo, 2003, depicts the deity backed by the crescent nimbus above a scene where Siddhartha slips out of the palace in the middle of the night. See, also, a large schist relief in the Karachi Museum, illustrated by H. Ingholt in Gandharan Art in Pakistan, New York, 1957, fig. 39 A-B, which depicts the same scene. The presence of a lunar deity on the jewelry of the present seated bodhisattva is testament to the syncretic nature of Buddhism in this early period, adopting deities from the Hindu and Iranian pantheons freely.