A SMALL GRAY SCHIST FIGURE OF A PENSIVE BODHISATTVA, ANCIENT REGION OF GANDHARA, 2ND-3RD CENTURY

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A SMALL GRAY SCHIST FIGURE OF A PENSIVE BODHISATTVA, ANCIENT REGION OF GANDHARA, 2ND-3RD CENTURY Kushan period. Seated in royal ease with one foot drawn up, his right hand raised to the temple while the left holds his foot, dressed in a dhoti and sanghati and adorned with multiple necklaces, the face in deep thought surmounted by a turban with mask-form crest and backed by a nimbus. His robe falling in finely rendered plead over the latticed throne. Dimensions: Height 31.8 cm (excl. stand), 34 cm (incl. stand) With a modern stand. (2) This rare type of 'Pensive Bodhisattva' originates in the Gandharan region during the Kushan period and is of extraordinary significance for further stylistic and iconographic developments throughout Asia, culminating in the iconographic type of a seated Maitreya in Korea and Japan by the 7th century. There are three possible identifications. In the Gandharan context, historical scenes of the 'Pensive Bodhisattva' generally represent Prince Siddhartha at his First Meditation on life's sorrows. As a free-standing sculpture, in a slanting leg pose, the Bodhisattva generally holds a lotus bud, identifying him as Padmapani. In the Swat Valley context, he may be part of the Maitreya triad. For further discussion based on an example of a Pensive Avalokiteshvara from Mathura, see M. Lerner, The Flame and the Lotus, 1984, pp. 30-35, where the author argues for a prerequisite of this iconographic type in the ancient Gandharan region, as the pensive figures invariably wear sandals, a late Hellenistic influence otherwise uncommon in Mathuran sculpture. Literature comparison: Compare a closely related Gandhara schist figure of a pensive bodhisattva, 25.5 cm high, dated to the 3rd century, in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, accession number EAOS.26.c. Compare a related larger schist figure of a pensive bodhisattva, dated 2nd-3rd century, 49.5 cm high, formerly in the James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection and now in the Art Institute of Chicago, reference number 1987.361.8. Auction result comparison: Type: Related Auction: Christie’s New York, 30 March 2006, lot 43 Price: USD 19,200 or approx. EUR 27,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of carving, and subject. Note the size (37 cm). Auction result comparison: Type: Closely related Auction: Christie’s New York, 30 March 2006, lot 49 Price: USD 54,000 or approx. EUR 78,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of carving, and subject, particularly the similar treatment of the crown. Note the size (48 cm).

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