ANCIENT REGION OF GANDHARA, 2ND-3RD CENTURY

This charming frieze depicts a musical festival or ritual, a common scene in the sculptural art of Gandhara with origins in the Greco-Roman Dionysian subject. At center are two female dancers, each with one arm raised, dynamically circling one another to the music of the male harpist at far left, with another figure at far right. The two female dancers are dressed in traditional Central Asian garb of the period: a loose tunic belted at the waist overflowing trousers, with lotiform bangles at the ankles. Although fragmentary, the figure at far right, in contrast, wears full robes reminiscent of the Greek himaton, illustrating the mix of styles and cultures in the ancient region of Gandhara. The figures are flanked by powerful lion-paw feet, which in Gandharan art were often used to raise thrones and low chairs.