Page 141 - Christies Alsdorf Collection PART 2 Sept 24 2020 NYC
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A work of sculptural elegance in its own right, this leogryph-form handle would have
been attached to a circular tray meant to catch embers, and likely would have been
used in a ritual context. The elegant design and lavish use of materials speaks to the
importance of ritual objects in early Buddhism in the Gandharan region during ancient
times. A comparable example of an incense burner with a leogryph handle, dated to
the first century A.D. and in the collection of the National Museum of Pakistan is
illustrated by A. Proser in The Buddhist Heritage of Pakistan, New York, 2011, p. 89, cat.
no. 3, and described by H. Ingolt in Gandharan Art in Pakistan, New York, 1957, fig.
493.
