Page 88 - September 20th 2021, Indian and Himalayan Art Christie's NYC

PROPERTY FROM A DISTINGUISHED PRIVATE COLLECTION
439
A GREY SCHIST BUDDHAPADA 古犍陀羅 三/四世紀 灰片岩雕佛足印
ANCIENT REGION OF GANDHARA, 3RD-4TH CENTURY CE
19Ω in. (49.5 cm.) high 來源:
紐約蘇富比，1997年3月20日，拍品編號36。
$20,000-30,000
PROVENANCE:
Sotheby's New York, 20 March 1997, lot 36.

The historical Buddha was first revered through emblems that evoke his
presence rather than through figurative images, as the Buddha himself
professed the danger of attachment to icons in his own pursuit of
enlightenment. Depictions of a bodhi tree, an empty throne, a riderless
horse, a chakra or wheel, a parasol and footprints of the Buddha were
all examples of what is now known as the early "aniconic phase" of
Buddhist art, in whic the presence of the Buddha was inferred through
his absence. The tradition developed during the Mauryan Empire in
the third-first centuries BCE, and was referenced in the later Greco-
Buddhist artistic traditions throughout the ancient region of Gandhara.
In a preliterate era, a work of art such as the present lot would have
played a powerful role in the transmission of Buddhist philosophy. In
the center of each foot print, is a many-spoked dharma chakra or wheel
of law, which represents Buddha's first sermon, known as "Turning the
Wheel of Dharma." Such symbolism consciously eludes to the early,
foundational principles of Buddhist philosophy and the Four Noble
Truths. Compare the work to a grey schist buddhapada from a private
collection in Japan, illustrated below, depicting the veneration of the
footprint symbol.

A grey schist Buddhapada; ancient region of Gandhara, 2nd – 3rd century; Private
Collection, Japan; published in A. Sensabaugh, “Footprints of the Buddha,” Yale
University Art Gallery Bulletin, 2017, pp. 84-89.