Page 22 - Christies DEVOTION IN STONE Gandharan Art From a Japanese Collection Sept 23 2020 NYC

A Magnificent Dated Buddhist Triad

Carved in deep relief, with exquisite modeling and lifelike attention to detail, sa[m] 41 Phagunasa masasa di pamcami Budhanadasa trepidakasa damamukhe
the present lot can be considered one of the most important and recognizable madapidarana adhvadidana puyaya bhavatu
Gandharan sculptures to ever appear at auction. Extensively published and
widely exhibited, this rare and important Buddhist triad has previously been (In the year 5, on the fifth day of the month of Phalguna: the pious gift of
described by Dr Pratapaditya Pal in Light of Asia: Buddha Sakyamuni in Asian Buddhananda, learned in the three baskets (pitakas), may it be for honoring
Art, Los Angeles, 1984, p. 191 as “one of the finest extant Gandhara reliefs” ever the deceased [?] father and mother)
known to international art historians and the art market. The figures of Buddha
and his flanking bodhisattvas, Avalokiteshvara and Maitreya, as well as the Based on an interpretation of the year 5 in the inscription as correlating to the
boughs of the tree above, are carved with such depth as to appear almost in Kanishka era, it is dated by Pratapaditya Pal in the “Light of Asia” exhibition
the round, and the emerging torsos of Brahma and Indra behind contribute to catalogue to the year 83 CE. Since the time of publication, however, the first
the sense of deep perspective, a masterful feat on the part of the sculpture century attribution has been widely debated as too early a date for a stele of
considering the shallow actual depth of the relief. this sophistication and subject matter vis-à-vis the current understanding of
the trajectory of Gandharan sculpture.
One of the numerous aspects which distinguishes this magnificent triad,
depicting Buddha Shakyamuni with a divine retinue of bodhisattvas, is its Further distinguishing characteristics of this extraordinary sculpture include
inclusion in a small group of inscribed figural sculpture from the ancient region the unusual and divine assembly of deities and bodhisattvas surrounding
of Gandhara. As recently as 2017, this group of five inscribed figural works Buddha Shakyamuni, seated at the center of the relief. In the present lot,
included the present lot; a seated Buddha from Manane Dheri; a standing Buddha is flanked on the proper left by the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, as
Buddha from Loriyan Tangai; a standing Buddha from Hashtnagar; and a evidenced by the diminutive Buddha figure at the crown of his head; and
standing Hariti from Skarah Dheri, the latter four all commonly known by their flanked on the proper right by another bodhisattva, likely Maitreya, although
excavation site and subject matter, i.e. the Loriyan Tangai Buddha, etc. For losses to the forearms preclude positive identification by attribute. Behind
further discussion, see J. Rhi, “Positioning Gandharan Buddhas in chronology: Buddha float two smaller figures with hands raised in adoration: crowned
significant coordinates and anomalies”, Problems of Chronology in Gandharan Indra on the proper left and an ascetic figure depicting Brahma on the proper
Art, Oxford, 2018, pp. 35-49 and also C. Luczanits, “Gandhara and its Art”, The right. Surmounting Buddha and retinue is a heavy bough of luxuriant leaves,
Buddhist Heritage of Pakistan: Art of Gandhara, New York, 2011, pp. 20-22. The alternately described as the famous bodhi tree, or a celestial tree laden
present triad, however, has been known colloquially and frequently published with flowers.
as the ‘Brussels Buddha’ due to its previous inclusion in the collection of the
Compare this triad with a very similar relief in the Peshawar Museum depicting
late Belgian dealer and connoisseur, Claude de Marteau.
the same scene (published as the “Miracle of Shravashti” in H. Hargreaves,
Since the initial appearance of the present lot in an advertisement in Oriental Handbook to the Sculptures of the Peshawar Museum, Calcutta, 1930, pl. 2,
Art magazine in the spring of 1973, enthusiastic scholastic and epigraphical fig. a.). In the Peshawar example, the bodhisattva Maitreya flanks Buddha
debate surrounding the chronology and interpretation of Gandharan on the proper left. Beyond this difference, there is remarkable resemblance
inscriptions, and the methodology of translation of dated inscriptions into the between the two triads, including the treatments of the leaves and flowers;
Gregorian calendar, has followed. the elegant hairstyles and cascading style of the robes; the particular crown
style of Indra; and the unusual treatment of the lotus throne petals, which
The primary question for epigraphical debate pertains to the correlation of resemble an artichoke and are more frequently seen in bronze sculpture from
era (i.e. Kanishka; Kharoshti; Azes; Vikrama, etc.) applied to the numerical the Swat Valley.
inscription, which would give a modern dating anywhere between the first
and fifth centuries CE. Although a median date of third-fourth century CE is
presently accepted as a working hypothesis by art historians and epigraphical
specialists, the question of accuracy still remains a subject of debate.
Determining the correlation of the inscribed date to the Gregorian calendar
has a significant and far-reaching effect, of course, on the dating of the present
lot; the beginning and end of the Kushan era; and the greater understanding of
the development and evolution of Gandharan art history.
Writing about the present lot in “Gandhara and its Art”, The Buddhist Heritage
of Pakistan: Art of Gandhara, New York, 2011, p. 21, Christian Luczanits
suggests a dating of third-fourth century (232 or 332 CE), based upon the
premise “… of the Kushan era as beginning with Kanishka I at 127 CE” as well
as the “… assumption of the development of iconographic themes based on the
slowly increasing importance of concepts and ideas associated with Mahayana
Buddhism.” The specifically Mahayanist iconographic themes to which he
refers includes the worship of bodhisattvas, including Avalokiteshvara and
Maitreya, both of whom flank the Buddha in the present lot. Luczanits further
summarizes: “ .. the interpretations of art history and Buddhist studies on the
one hand and those of archaeology, history and epigraphy on the other hand
have been drifting apart, without the possibility of reconciliation.”
The inscription on the present lot has been presented by Juhyung Rhi in
“Positioning Gandharan Buddhas in chronology: significant coordinates and The Miracle at Shravasti; Peshawar Museum, Pakistan, acc. no. 1527;
illustrated in H. Hargreaves, Handbook to the Sculptures in the Peshawar
anomalies”, in Problems of Chronology in Gandharan Art, Oxford, 2018, p. 43.
Museum, Calcutta, 1930, pl. 2a.
and translated as:
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