Page 12 - Bonhams March 22 2022 Indian and Himalayan Art NYC

303 W
A SCHIST FIGURE OF BUDDHA
ANCIENT REGION OF GANDHARA, 3RD/4TH CENTURY
31 3/4 in. (80.7 cm) high

$50,000 - 70,000

犍陀羅 三/四世紀 片岩佛陀像

By the beginning of the 3rd century, the focus on narrative panels in Gandharan art shifted
to iconic statues of Buddha and bodhisattvas in line with the growing of institutionalization of
Mahayana Buddhism in the region. Depicting Buddha Shakyamuni, the present lot is one such
devotional icons. Finely modeled in the classic Gandharan style, the enlightened one offers his
worshippers a compassionate yet determined expression. His left hand would have held the
edge of his robe, while his right would have offered a gesture of reassurance abhaya mudra.
Drawing on Greco-Roman sculptural traditions, the sculptor emphasized the naturalism
of Buddha's heavy monastic robe, which wraps around his neck in thick layers and forms
U-shaped folds on his legs with a convincing sense of gravity. His hair is also impeccably
carved, with wavy locks radiating from the center of the hairline. The underskirt that would have
wrapped around Buddha's waist, visible around his ankles below the bottom edge of his robe,
is equally well rendered.

The sculpture is closely related to another Standing Buddha with a corresponding treatment of
the hair in front of a large, plain halo, and stylized flower motif below his feet, preserved at the
Penn Museum, Philadelphia (29-68-1). It also compares favorably to a smaller yet stylistically
similar figure sold at Bonhams, New York, 19 March 2019, lot 881.

Provenance:
Horst Werner Bucholz (1933-2003), Berlin, acquired by 1963
Private German Collection, appraised by Spink & Son, Zurich, L.T.D., 14 May 1974
Galerie de Rhone, 2 June 2007, lot 146
Private Collection, Switzerland
The sculpture was acquired by German actor Horst Werner Bucholz during the filming of
Nine Hours to Rama (1963) in which he played the lead. Bucholz also played Chico in The
Magnificent Seven (1960).

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