STATUE D'UN BODHISATTVA EN SCHISTE GRIS ANICENNE... Lot 39

STATUE D'UN BODHISATTVA EN SCHISTE GRIS ANICENNE RÉGION DE GANDHARA, VERS IIIE SIÈCLE 115 cm (45 1/4 in.) high Footnotes: A GREY SCHIST FIGURE OF A BODHISATTVA ANCIENT REGION OF GANDHARA, CIRCA 3RD CENTURY 犍陀羅 約三世紀 片岩菩薩像 Published: Isao Kurita, Gandharan Art, Vol. II, Tokyo, 1998 & 2003, p. 15, no. 17. Provenance: With Claude de Marteau, Brussels, by 1970s This majestic figure of a standing bodhisattva evokes both strength and grace. He bears the qualities of a youthful prince, indicated by his jewelry and noble, smooth physiognomy. His pronounced musculature, circular nimbus, and lofty expression convey an idealized image of a divine and enlightened being. He likely represents Maitreya, who in Mahayana Buddhism is destined to succeed Shakyamuni as the next and final Buddha. Maitreya in Gandharan art is frequently depicted with a loosely folded topknot, a right hand raised in the gesture of reassurance (abhaya mudra), and a water flask that was presumably clutched by the lost lowered left hand. Reflecting the cosmopolitan attitude of Gandharan art, which fused Indic content with Iranian and Greco-Roman aesthetics, Maitreya is carved with long wavy locks, standing with a gentle contrapposto in the right knee. Located in what is today northwest Pakistan and southern Afghanistan, the ancient region of Gandhara was once a vibrant economic and cultural hub with an integral position within both overland and maritime silk routes around the 1st century BCE. The vast influx of wealth and commerce enabled Gandhara's urban centers to serve as the crossroads connecting China, Central Asia, the Indian peninsula, and the Mediterranean. However, Gandhara's advantageous geography meant the region fell repeatedly to invasion from powerful ancient empires. Alexander the Great conquered the ancient capital of Taxila in 326 BCE and the region was, for a brief time, absorbed into the Macedonian empire. After the death of Alexander, the Mauryans subsequently ruled for approximately one hundred and fifty years (c. 305-180 BCE). Greco-Bactrian invasions around 180 BCE then turned the region into an independent Indo-Greek kingdom (c. 185-97 BCE). One of its most famous rulers, King Menander I (r. 165/55-130 BCE), became a great patron of Buddhism and is still remembered for his dialogues with the Buddhist sage Nagasena, as recorded in the Milinda Panha, 'The Questions of Menander'. The Kushans, who were originally of Central Asian descent and adopted Greek and Iranian elements in their material culture, later established themselves in Gandhara in the early 1st century CE. The most accomplished of these kings was Kanishka I (r. 127-151 CE), who not only ruled a vast empire extending from Bactria to Pataliputra in Northeast India, but also followed the tradition of religious patronage set by the Indo-Greek kings and actively engaged in the creation and transmission of Buddhist literature, architecture, and art. It was during this cultural landscape of stone monuments and statuary, particularly once Mahayana Buddhism attained popularity in Gandhara by the late 2nd/early 3rd century CE, that images like the following sculpture were instrumental in the eastern transmission of early Buddhist art. Other standing images of Maitreya with similar attributes and stylistic features are found in several museum collections, published in Zwalf, A Catalogue of the Gandharan Sculpture in the British Museum, 1996, p. 38, nos. 51 & 52; Dye, The Arts of India: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 2001, p. 97, no.7; and Behrendt, The Art of Gandhara in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2007, p. 54, no. 42. For instance, the beaded jewelry adorning the present sculpture's hair and the floral medallions carved on the sides of the platform closely relate to the example in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (13.96.17). Moreover, the acanthus leaves decorating the front of the present figure's platform, the large tassel hanging by the left arm, the sharp angular folds suspended over the left leg, and the deep ripples of the robe around the raised right forearm are striking in appearance to the example in Virginia. Also located beneath Maitreya's feet is an iconic trope illustrating a seated bodhisattva venerated by a congregation, as seen on two Gandharan statues of the Buddha, one sold at Bonham's, Hong Kong, 2 December 2021, lot 1036, and the other also from the Claude de Marteau Collection, Part 1, sold at Bonhams, Paris, 14 June 2022, lot 26. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: W W Lot is located in the Bonhams Warehouse and will only be available for collection from this location. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com