Page 15 - Bonhams, Indian and Himalayan Art New York July 23, 2020

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A SCHIST PANEL WITH MAITREYA AND DEVOTEES The panel is well-carved and ranks among superior Gandharan
ANCIENT REGION OF GANDHARA, 2ND/3RD CENTURY friezes, which are often taller like the present lot. Similarly carved
9 5/8 x 19 in. (24.5 x 48.2 cm) and proportioned friezes are published in ibid., no.95 and Kurita,
Gandharan Art, Vol.1, Tokyo, 1988, pp.58, 179 & 275, nos.108, 352
$15,000 - 20,000 & 586. Also see similar compositions and pilasters on panels in the
British Museum (Zwalf, Gandharan Sculpture, London, 1990, pp.104 &
犍陀羅 二/三世紀 片岩彌勒菩薩與信徒石碑 139, nos.172 & 228.)

A confident Maitreya sits above a lion-footed throne venerated by Provenance
followers indicative of ancient Gandhara’s cosmopolitan civilization. Property from the Estate of Richard B. Gump, San Francisco
Immediately to the right stands a yavani, of Greek origin, holding a Sotheby’s, New York, 28 October 1991, lot 281
spear. Yavani were royal attendants charged with the safekeeping of The Estate of Benjamin M. Rice II, New York
a king’s bows and quivers. They are first mentioned in early Buddhist
literature by the Lalitavistara Sutra (cf. Ingholt, Gandharan Art in
Pakistan, New York, 1957, nos.39A-B). Immediately to the left is a
heavily clad young man with long locks tied in a distinctive looped
topknot. Behind him are a pair of donor figures holding clusters of
flowers. They have distinctive tonsures and garments, including a long-
sleeved undergarment, which Ingholt suggests indicate the men are
foreigners to Gandhara (Ingholt, Gandharan Art in Pakistan, New York,
1957, pp.161-2).

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