.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The present schist sculpture of a bodhisattva is of exceptional sculpting quality. It is likely he would have held a water vessel in the left hand, identifying him as the bodhisattva Maitreya. Maitreya is considered the Buddha of the future - when the dharma is forgotten on Earth, he will descend from the Tushita Heaven to be born in our realm as the next Buddha. His iconic water vessel, the kumbha, is found in many different contexts within Indian sculpture, but is almost always a symbol of fertility and life.
When he is born on Earth, Maitreya will be of Brahmin stock. He is dressed, therefore, in the rich garb similar to that of the historical Gautama Buddha, prior to his renunciation of worldly goods. His vestments include a foliate collar and a rope-work necklace with a makara-head pendant. He is robed in the ankle-length dhoti, secured around the waist with a knotted rope. The heavier sanghati is open at the front to expose his muscular chest. Both display the naturalistic attention to drapery characteristic of the Gandharan period that is held over from the earlier Greco-Roman influence in the region.
When he is born on Earth, Maitreya will be of Brahmin stock. He is dressed, therefore, in the rich garb similar to that of the historical Gautama Buddha, prior to his renunciation of worldly goods. His vestments include a foliate collar and a rope-work necklace with a makara-head pendant. He is robed in the ankle-length dhoti, secured around the waist with a knotted rope. The heavier sanghati is open at the front to expose his muscular chest. Both display the naturalistic attention to drapery characteristic of the Gandharan period that is held over from the earlier Greco-Roman influence in the region.