Page 126 - Blum Feinstein Tanka collection HIMALAYAN Art Bonhams March 20 2024

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A GREY SCHIST FIGURE OF BUDDHA
ANCIENT REGION OF GANDHARA, CIRCA 3RD CENTURY
31 in. (78.7 cm) high

$8,000 - 12,000

犍陀羅 約三世紀 片岩佛陀像

This nearly life size sculpture of the Buddha depicts the sage seated in meditation.
Featured below an attractive splay of wavy locks is a face sculpted with an
endearing roundness. His robe’s naturalistic folds weave, wrap, and slacken
around his muscular torso, creating a dramatic visual contrast between their busy
negotiations and the stillness of his expression. One example of similar modeling
is in the British Museum, London, which showcases a similar treatment of the
Buddha’s robe (Zwalf, Gandhara Sculpture, 1996, no. 26). The Buddha compares
favorably to other seated examples that approach its size, including one sold in
Sotheby’s, New York, 19 March 2014, lot 32, and four others sold in Christie’s,
New York: 16 September 2014, lot 212; 19 March 2013, lot 202; and 18 March
2015, lots 4005 & 4015.

With universal appeal among collectors, the Gandharan style is a fascinating and
accomplished idiom, testament to the cross-cultural origins and early spread of
Buddhist art. Created by ateliers working in the Greco-Roman style that populated
the region following Alexander the Great’s invasion of modern-day Pakistan
and Afghanistan in 327 BCE, it drew on Mediterranean sculptural traditions
when catering to the demand from local Buddhist communities for carved
stone monuments and iconic statuary. The Gandharan style, in turn, formed the
precedent for the earliest Buddhist images in China, via contact and exchange
across Central Asian trade routes.

This sculpture was displayed in pride of place at the entrance to the couple’s Lyon
Street residence in San Francisco.

Provenance
Xanadu Gallery, San Francisco before 2018

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