A gray schist winged figure
A gray schist winged figure

GANDHARA, 2ND/3RD CENTURY

Details
A gray schist winged figure
Gandhara, 2nd/3rd century
The figure in slight profile, clad in a short dhoti, kneeling on one knee and leaning on a stick, the face with strong cheekbones and brow, the thick locks of his hair tousled, backed by feathered wings
6½ in. (16 cm.) high
Provenance
Private Japanese Collection, acquired in the 1990s

Lot Essay

While such figures are generally identified as 'Atlas', the prototype in classical mythology is never equipped with wings. Alfred Foucher suggests the interpretation as a yaksha, likewise supporting the base of a structure, with wings borrowed from Victory. It would thus represent an amalgamation of iconographic elements from Indian and classical sources; for a further discussion, see P. Pal, Asian Art at the Norton Simon Museum, vol. 1, fig. 35, p. 68; for similar examples of winged 'Atlas' figures, see W. Zwalf, A Catalogue of the Gandhara Sculpture at the British Museum, 1996, pp. 206-11, fig. nos. 355-68.

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