Page 54 - Christies DEVOTION IN STONE Gandharan Art From a Japanese Collection Sept 23 2020 NYC

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A GRAY SCHIST RELIEF DEPICTING THE GREAT DEPARTURE
ANCIENT REGION OF GANDHARA, 3RD-4TH CENTURY CE
7√ in. (20 cm.) high; 10¬ in. (27.1 cm.) wide

$15,000-20,000
PROVENANCE:
Private collection, Japan, by 1988.
Important private collection, Japan, by 1990.
LITERATURE:
I. Kurita, Gandharan Art, vol. I, Tokyo, 1988, p. 82, fig.146.

The present scene marks the departure of Siddhartha from Kapilavastu
and the renunciation of his princely life, embarking on his journey towards
enlightenment. Yakshas support Kanthaka's hooves so that no noise can
be heard by the guards in the early hours of the morning when he departs.
Narrative panels such as the present work were often affixed to the cylindrical
drums or rectangular plinths of stupas and could thus be read sequentially in
the ritual process of circumambulation. Other reliefs were also placed in false
gables on the front and the mid-section of a stupa.

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