If you’d like to try an alternative to classic porcelain, then Tonda is the perfect complement to your home.

Newsletter

Follow us

Newsletter

If you'd like to try an alternative to classic porcelain, then Tonda is the perfect complement to your home.

[contact-form-7 id="2226" html_class="cf7_custom_style_1"]

Search

Gandhara Stucco Buddha Head ‘100 to 400 AD’

$1,400.00

Gandhara Stucco Buddha Head ‘100 to 400 AD’

Out of stock

Description

A stucco Buddha Heas from Gandhara 9100-400 AD)
On wood stand: 9 inches high x 3.5 wide x 4.5 deep

The sculpting of this Buddha head is particularly fine with original painted pigments. The topknot, the Gandharan version of the ushnisha, symbolising the Buddha’s spiritual wisdom and enlightenment, is set just off centre to the viewer’s left. The curls of the hair are implied through wide, tapering indentations in the stucco. The elongated earlobes, a reference to the historical Buddha’s former wealth, are intact. It is likely that the head was originally painted in colour as this was customary for religious sculpture. Today the surface is a pale cream/pink which enables the viewer to admire the delicacy of the carving.

Provenance: From a Canadian auction selling the estate of a French gentleman who amassed a large collection of Gandhara, Buddhas and Khmer items throughout his life.

According to tradition Buddhism was first introduced into the Gandharan region under the patronage of Asoka, emperor of the Mauryan dynasty, in the third century B.C. The first significant physical remains to survive, including stupas and figurative sculpture, date from the first century B.C. Between circa 100-400 A.D. sculptors working in schist, terracotta and stucco produced an astonishing number and variety of Buddhist images. Gandhara was situated at the crossroads between east and west and thus came under a wide variety of artistic influences, including Persian, Greek and Indian. It also became an important pilgrimage site for Buddhists from across Asia as it was claimed that events from the Buddha’s former lives had occurred in the area.

  • Join our exclusive list for our latest acquisitions,
    curated collections, blog posts & more.

     

  • Make A Proper Price Offer.

  • You don't have permission to register