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Lot Essay
This stucco image of the Buddha from Gandhara, dated to the fourth or fifth century, reflects a long-established sculptural prototype that merged South Asian religious meaning with visual conventions shaped by the Greco-Roman world. The Buddha is shown seated in meditation, his body arranged with calm symmetry and a softly modeled sense of volume. His monastic robe falls in gently curving folds, recalling classical drapery while emphasizing the Buddha's disciplined stillness. The hands are brought together in a mudra associated with teaching or doctrinal explanation. This restrained pose, combined with the frontal orientation and balanced proportions establishes the figure as an idealized representation of the Buddha's enlightened wisdom.
By the later Gandharan period, such devotional images were widely produced in stucco. The iconography relates to the central Buddha images of the 'Muhammad Nari Stele' (Luczanits (ed.), The Buddhist Heritage of Pakistan, 2011, p. 163, no. 68), modeling a prototype that appears in these later stucco examples, many of which have been excavated in Taxila and Hadda. Other Gandharan stucco examples include one sold at Christie's, New York, 23 March 2010, lot 162, a fragmentary example in the Victoria & Albert Museum (IS.322-1951), and another from Sotheby's, New York, 24 March 2004, lot 5.
By the later Gandharan period, such devotional images were widely produced in stucco. The iconography relates to the central Buddha images of the 'Muhammad Nari Stele' (Luczanits (ed.), The Buddhist Heritage of Pakistan, 2011, p. 163, no. 68), modeling a prototype that appears in these later stucco examples, many of which have been excavated in Taxila and Hadda. Other Gandharan stucco examples include one sold at Christie's, New York, 23 March 2010, lot 162, a fragmentary example in the Victoria & Albert Museum (IS.322-1951), and another from Sotheby's, New York, 24 March 2004, lot 5.