Page 7 - 2021 March 17th, Indian and Himalayan and Southeast Asian Art, Christie's New York City

Map of the Gandhara region, with modern political borders indicated.

Afghan regions of Bactria and Nagarahara, and for a time With the increase in patronage of Buddhism, one sees a
they brought political stability to these areas. The Kushan sharp increase in the construction of Buddhist monasteries
Period (1st Century BCE - 3rd Century CE) is considered the in this region from about the 4th to early 5th century CE.
golden age of Gandharan Buddhist Art, when Buddhism Most of the extant stupas, image shrines, and monasteries
flourished in this region. Under the Kushans, many new as well as representational sculptures of Buddha may be
Buddhist sites were founded in Gandhara during the 2nd attributed to this period. By the mid-5th century, patronage
century CE, most of them organized around a monastery within Gandhara proper declined dramatically, likely as a
and a stupa. The stupas were decorated with narrative result of Hun incursions into the region and a shift in trade
relief panels recounting the life of the Buddha (lot 414), routes favoring the area of Nagarahara in Afghanistan,
bodhisattvas (lot 415) images of buddha himself (lot 410). which experienced a corresponding period of prosperity.
This led to new constructions in Afghan Buddhist sites
The earliest images of the Buddha and bodhisattvas between the 5th and 8th centuries CE, including the
began to appear from the beginning of the 3rd century great Buddhas of Bamiyan. The rich Buddhist traditions
CE. This shift has often been seen as marking a transition of greater Gandhara finally came to an end around the 8th
in Buddhist ideology from the earlier Hinayana schools, to 9th century after a series of invasions that introduced a
which emphasized the veneration of relics, to later new religion, Islam, that supplanted and eventually eclipsed
Mahayana practices centered on the veneration of images Buddhist practice in the region.
of bodhisattvas and cosmic Buddhas. The collection
on offer includes examples mainly from the Mahayana The collection on offer is a group of magnificent Gandharan
phase of Buddhism, with some of the finest sculptural works of art that are coming to the market for the first
representations of Buddha and bodhisattvas from the time. All are published in the seminal two volume tome,
Gandhara region. The underlining feature of Gandharan Gandharan Art, vols. I & II by Isao Kurita, the leading
art was its cosmopolitan nature with the amalgamation of dealer and connoisseur of Gandharan art. Many have
Greek and Roman artistic modes with strains of Scythian, been exhibited at various institutions in Japan and further
Iranian and other traditions, combined with a strongly Indic abroad and have been part of this private collection for
orientation. The zenith of this artistic style is exemplified by three decades. We are grateful to Eco Ring, Inc. for
the superbly carved life-sized figure of Buddha Shakyamuni enabling Christie’s to bring one of the greatest collections
(lot 406). of Gandharan masterpieces to the market.