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Lot Essay
The Goddess of fortuity, chance, luck, and of the non-predictable or cheerful coincidence, Tyche is also the patron of cities and their good fortune. In the Gandharan context, she becomes the guardian of Buddha's princely domain Kapilavastu, and is represented with a mural crown on her head, a turreted headdress encircled by a wreath, and sometimes holds a garland in her left hand, the outline of which is still discernible.
Large sculptures of female deities are extremely rare in the Gandharan context and no other large sculpture of Tyche appears to be published. In illustrative reliefs, Tyche is sometimes portrayed in the 'Great Departure' scene as the city goddess of Kapilavastu, see K. Tanabe, Gandharan Ladies and Toilet Trays from Japanese Collections, Ancient Orient Museum, Tokyo 1985, figs. II-16 and II-17. For a further discussion of Tyche's role in the context of antiquity, see P. Broucke, 'Tyche and the Fortune of Cities in the Greek and Roman World,' in S. Matheson (ed.), An Obsession with Fortune: Tyche in Greek and Roman Art, Yale University Art Gallery, 1994, pp. 34-63.
Large sculptures of female deities are extremely rare in the Gandharan context and no other large sculpture of Tyche appears to be published. In illustrative reliefs, Tyche is sometimes portrayed in the 'Great Departure' scene as the city goddess of Kapilavastu, see K. Tanabe, Gandharan Ladies and Toilet Trays from Japanese Collections, Ancient Orient Museum, Tokyo 1985, figs. II-16 and II-17. For a further discussion of Tyche's role in the context of antiquity, see P. Broucke, 'Tyche and the Fortune of Cities in the Greek and Roman World,' in S. Matheson (ed.), An Obsession with Fortune: Tyche in Greek and Roman Art, Yale University Art Gallery, 1994, pp. 34-63.