Page 103 - Bonhams Indian and Himalayan Art March 2016 New York

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A LARGE SANDSTONE TORSO OF BUDDHA
Mathura, Gupta period, 5th/6th century
Standing in a slightly flexed pose with right leg
forward, the cape-like outer robe hugs his sensuous
form but for the fishtail pleats of the diaphanous
undergarment by his ankles.
43 in. (109 cm) high
$20,000 - 30,000

馬圖拉 笈多時期 五／六世紀 砂巖佛身像

‘Who so sees the spiritual Dharma, he sees me.
Who so sees me, sees the spiritual Dharma.’
(after Ahuja, The Body in Indian Art and Thought,
Brussels, 2013, p. 193).

Why Buddha was portrayed in a stylized way,
resisting exact portraiture, is often explained by the
former being able to better communicate his true
essence. Without neck or arms, the sculpture’s
surviving state heightens the already pronounced
abstraction inherent to the Gupta style, often viewed
as the golden age of Indian sculpture. By some
fortune here, the stone’s weathered surface and
natural mottling accentuate the sculpture’s lissome
contours, creating an almost wood-like granular
appearance, and intensifying its abstract beauty.

Compare two related examples in similar condition,
held in the Musée Guimet & Nelson-Atkins Museum,
published respectively in Auboyer, Rarities of the
Musée Guimet, New York, 1975, no. 12 & Pal, The
Ideal Image, New York, 1978, p. 70, no. 17.

Provenance
Spink & Son, Ltd., London, May 1985
Private American Collection

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