Page 48 - Christies DEVOTION IN STONE Gandharan Art From a Japanese Collection Sept 23 2020 NYC

620
A RARE GREEN SCHIST RELIEF OF
SIDDHARTHA WITH ADORANTS
ANCIENT REGION OF GANDHARA,
SWAT VALLEY, 2ND-4TH CENTURY CE
33 in. (83.8 cm.) high; 18æ in. (47.6 cm.) wide

$100,000-150,000
PROVENANCE:
Possibly with David M. Lindahl, Kyoto, Japan, by 1988.
Spink & Son, Ltd., London, by 1988.
Important private collection, Japan, by 1990.
LITERATURE:
I. Kurita, Gandharan Art, vol. II, Tokyo, 1990, p. 8, fig. 6.
M. Akira, Gandharan Art and Bamiyan Site, Tokyo, 2006, p. 51, no. 17.

The identity of the central figure in the present lot cannot be assertively who was a popular figure in the Indo-Greek kingdoms of the Gandharan
identified, but it possibly represents Siddhartha before his renunciation of region. As a slayer of demons and a remover of obstacles, Herakles was quickly
his royal trappings at the start of his quest for spiritual enlightenment. He is incorporated into the iconography of Vajrapani in the story of the Buddha. In
dressed in the garb of an Indian prince, with an elaborate turban with crested the present stele, Vajrapani is garbed in clothing distinctly different from the
cockade, heavy earrings, a circular torc and garland-form necklace, and heavy other figures, resembling closer the Greek-style chiton. Although there is some
robes that are secured at the waist with a beaded belt. His right hand is raised wear and damage at his proper left shoulder, there is a possible indication of a
in abhayamudra, and his left is held at his hip, and he is shaded by a large lion’s head, a reference to the Nemean lion that Herakles slays and whose skin
parasol; in terms of iconography and style, the present work is not dissimilar to he wears as a robe afterwards. The muscled physiognomy and deeply-carved
the green schist figure of a bodhisattva from lot 623, although here he stands hair and beard are also characteristic attributes of Herakles-as-Vajrapani.
in contrapposto, rather than the wide stance of lot 623.
The chauri (flywhisk) bearer at upper proper left of the central figure is
Without the attendant figures at either side, the central figure could tentatively likely derived from earlier depictions of yakshas, nature-spirit figures that
be identified as an anonymous bodhisattva. Although he is lacking any were worshipped as local deities and were often shown holding flywhisks.
iconographic attributes, later depictions of bodhisattvas, including lot 613, Sculptures of yakshas were among the first large-scale images of deities
are usually represented as wearing a similar turban and robes, and are known in Indian art, and were assimilated into Buddhism as pseudo-guardian
sometimes identified as Avalokiteshvara. However, the presence of devotees figures, as indicated by their presence at the gates of stupas such as at
in the present stele, including a bearded ascetic at lower proper right, a figure Sanchi. As elucidated by John Guy in “A Kushan bodhisattva and early Indian
dressed in the garb of a prince at lower proper left, a bearded Herakles-type sculpture,” Art Bulletin of Victoria, no. 24, 25 June 2014, early depictions
figure of Vajrapani at upper proper right, and a chauri (flywhisk bearer) at of the Buddha from the Kushan center of Mathura, such as the triad from
upper proper left, indicate that the central figure is likely to be some form of the Katra mound and now at the Government Museum, Mathura, portray
the Buddha Shakyamuni. the Buddha Shakyamuni flanked by chauri bearers, who are stylistically
and iconographically similar to Mauryan, Shunga and Kushan images of
The most immediately recognizable of the attendant figures in the present yakshas. The position of the yakshas/chauri bearers symbolized Shakyamuni’s
stele is Vajrapani, in part due to the presence of the double-lozenge-form conversion of the yakshas from independent nature spirits to protectors of the
thunderbolt held in his proper right hand. The iconography and religious origins Buddhist dharma. Over time, with the development of Mahayana Buddhism
of Vajrapani are syncretic, incorporating aspects of the Vedic god, Indra, who and the rise in prominence of bodhisattvas and associated bodhisattva
was also known to wield an immutable thunderbolt, into a figure that became cults, the chauri bearers become proto-bodhisattvas, devoid of identifying
a bodyguard of sorts for the Buddha Shakyamuni. In the Gandharan context, iconography but fulfilling similar roles as the flanking bodhisattvas seen in
Vajrapani takes on aspects of the Graeco-Roman mythical figure, Herakles, later Buddhist sculpture, such as in lot 609. The presence of the chauri bearer
here may represent a converted yaksha, or represent what John Guy describes
as a proto-bodhisattva.
The two figures at lower proper left and right are also somewhat enigmatic
iconographically. The figure at proper right is depicted as a bearded ascetic
or monk, and the figure at proper left is garbed in the vestments of an Indian
prince, resembling the central figure. Whether these figures indicate the
simultaneous subservience of the sangha (monkhood) and royal figures to
the dharma, or whether they also represent some form of proto-bodhisattva
is unclear.

Taken as a group, the four attendant figures suggest that the figure at center
is likely to be some form of the Buddha Shakyamuni, either prior to his
renunciation of his royal title, or as a bodhisattva in a previous life. Despite the
uncertainty of the identity of the central figure, the present stele captures an
early and transitional period in the Buddhist art of the Swat Valley region of
Gandhara, when iconography and the religious function of various figures and
deities was still being developed.
Cover and illustration from I. Kurita, Gandharan Art, vol. II, Tokyo, 1990, p. 8, fig. 6.

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