Page 88 - Bonhams Image of Devotion Hong Kong December 2, 2021

The hems of Buddha’s alluring robes are gathered in a soft roll clutched by his
left hand to keep the garment tort and in place. The remains of his right forearm
terminate with a commonly seen mortise that would have supported a separately
carved hand modelling the gesture of reassurance (abhaya mudra). Referring
to similar examples in the British Museum, Zwalf discusses this arrangement in
detail which forms an iconic trope in Gandharan art (Zwalf, Gandharan Sculpture,
vol.I, London, 1996. p.81; also p.9, no.1). As with the British Museum examples,
the present sculpture’s base is carved in low relief depicting the Future Buddha,
Maitreya venerated by pairs of donor figures. This scene is also presented (with
only a single donor either side) on a Gandharan sculpture of Buddha in The
Metropolitan Museum of Art (Behrendt, The Art of Gandhara, New York, 2007,
p.51, no.40).

Exhibiting such representative stylistic and iconographic features, the present lot is
a superior, textbook example of the Gandharan Buddha. Compare a smaller, more
fragmentary example sold at Christie’s, New York, 22 September 2020, lot 619
and a larger sculpture sold at Christie’s New York, 17 March 2021, lot 406.

Provenance
Private American Collection by 1994
Private Asian Collection

86 | BONHAMS