A rare green schist relief with the Buddha riding a chariot

GANDHARA, 2ND/3RD CENTURY

Details

A rare green schist relief with the Buddha riding a chariot
Gandhara, 2nd/3rd century
The Buddha at center flanked by attendants and with his hand raised in abhayamudra, seated on a chariot with latticework panel fronted by a peacock drawn by four rearing horses shown in profile, with a soldier at far left clutching the hilt of his sword, all over a base with a reticulated stellate pattern
17 5/8 in. (44.2 cm.) wide

Provenance

Private collection, California, acquired at Drouot, Paris, 1-3 October 1976, lot 52

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Lot Essay

The visual innovation characteristic of the Gandharan artisans is evident in the renditions of rearing horses of the present work. There are numerous examples of animals represented frontally in the Gandharan context, but the dynamic composition of the present example, with the horses shown obliquely, yet balanced on the hind quarters, is relatively rare.

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