A GRAY SCHIST RELIEF DEPICTING GARLAND BEARERS
A GRAY SCHIST RELIEF DEPICTING GARLAND BEARERS
A GRAY SCHIST RELIEF DEPICTING GARLAND BEARERS
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GANDHARAN MASTERPIECES FROM A PRIVATE JAPANESE COLLECTION
A GRAY SCHIST RELIEF DEPICTING GARLAND BEARERS

ANCIENT REGION OF GANDHARA, 3RD-4TH CENTURY CE

Details
A GRAY SCHIST RELIEF DEPICTING GARLAND BEARERS
ANCIENT REGION OF GANDHARA, 3RD-4TH CENTURY CE
7 ¾ in. (19.7 cm.) high; 13 5/8 in. wide
Provenance
Private collection, Japan, before 1990, by repute.
Important private collection, Japan, by 1990.
Literature
I. Kurita, Gandharan Art, vol. II, Tokyo, 1990, p. 222, fig. 655.

Lot Essay


Continuous friezes of garland bearers were a popular component of Gandharan architectural design. The present example depicts two attendants hauling a large undulating wreath, with a thickly plumed bird with outstretched wings in the center. These lush garlands were frequently featured in depictions of Jataka tales, in which the Buddha was previously incarnated as a bird, didactically reinforcing the Buddhist approach to the interconnectivity of all sentient beings. See H. Ingolt, Gandharan Art in Pakistan, New York, 1957, plates 374-380, for further examples of the garland bearer motif.

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