Page 93 - September 20th 2021, Indian and Himalayan Art Christie's NYC

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A GREY SCHIST FIGURE OF A BODHISATTVA 古犍陀羅 三/四世紀 灰片岩雕菩薩像
ANCIENT REGION OF GANDHARA, 3RD-4TH CENTURY CE
來源:
22æ in. (57.8 cm.) high 紐約蘇富比，1989年3月22日，拍品編號10。
$30,000-50,000
PROVENANCE:
Sotheby’s New York, 22 March 1989, lot 10.

The present figure can tentatively be identified by the characteristic prior to his renunciation of worldly goods. His vestments include a
topknot of hair as the bodhisattva, Maitreya; as such, he would have held foliate torque, a rope-work necklace with a makara-head pendant, and a
a pendent water vessel in his proper left hand. Maitreya is considered cord with cylindrical amulet boxes of a type still in use in South Asia. The
the Buddha of the future - when the dharma is forgotten on Earth, he heavy folds of his sanghati display the naturalistic treatment of drapery
will descend from the Tushita Heaven to be born in our realm as the next characteristic of the Gandharan period that is a holdover from the earlier
Buddha. His iconic water vessel, the kumbha, is found in many different Greco-Roman influence in the region.
contexts within Indian sculpture, but is almost always a symbol of
fertility and life. It is an apt visual icon for Maitreya's role as a progenitor The present work is distinguished by the Buddhist creed which is
of future peace and order. incised in Kharosthi script along the outer edge of the aureole, a rare
feature found on only a few known examples. Compare with a figure of
When he is born on earth, Maitreya will be of Brahmin stock, and is Maitreya, also bearing a Kharosthi inscription along the aureole, sold at
depicted in rich robes similar to that of the historical Gautama Buddha Christie's New York, 21 March 2008, lot 518.

An important grey schist figure of Maitreya; ancient region of Gandhara,
2nd-3rd century; 54 in. (134 cm.) high; sold, Christie’s New York,
21 March 2008, lot 518, for $217,000.