Page 90 - September 20th 2021, Indian and Himalayan Art Christie's NYC

PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT COLLECTION
440
A RARE GREY SCHIST HEAD OF A BODHISATTVA 古犍陀羅 三/四世紀 灰片岩菩薩首
ANCIENT REGION OF GANDHARA, 3RD-4TH CENTURY CE
12Ω in. (31.8 cm.) high 來源:
美國西岸私人珍藏，不晚於1999年。
$12,000-18,000
PROVENANCE:
Private collection, West Coast, by 1999.

This crisply carved head of a bodhisattva features a rare and unusual
motif at the center of the turban crest: the depiction of Garuda
capturing a nagini, a beautiful female representation of a naga, in his
peak. The bird-like creature is said to eat snakes daily in vengeance
against the Naga tribes, the serpents who captured his mother. This
scene mirrors the event in Greek mythology when Zeus turns into
an eagle and kidnaps the boy Ganymede. This motif is known to be
depicted in the headdresses of images of Avalokiteshvara, although it
is rarely found in surviving examples. See I. Kurita, Gandharan Art II:
The World of the Buddha, 2003, p.311 and D. Klimburg-Salter, Buddha
in Indien. Die fruehindische Skulptur von Koenig Asoka bis zur Guptazeit,
1995, cat. No. 138 for comparable figures of bodhisattvas with this
turban motif. Also compare to a small, but well-preserved fragment of
a Garuda turban ornament sold at Christie’s New York 18 March 2015,
lot 4009, for $13,750.

A grey schist turban ornament with Garuda and Nagini; ancient region of Gandhara, 2nd-3rd
century; 4½ in. (11.4 cm.) high; sold, Christie’s New York 18 March 2015, lot 4009, for $13,750.