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A GREEN SCHIST PANEL OF THE ENTREATY TO PREACH THE DOCTRINE SWAT VALLEY, CIRCA 3RD CENTURY image 1

A GREEN SCHIST PANEL OF THE ENTREATY TO PREACH THE DOCTRINE SWAT VALLEY, CIRCA 3RD CENTURY image 2

A GREEN SCHIST PANEL OF THE ENTREATY TO PREACH THE DOCTRINE SWAT VALLEY, CIRCA 3RD CENTURY image 3

Lot 3063

A GREEN SCHIST PANEL OF THE ENTREATY TO PREACH THE DOCTRINE
SWAT VALLEY, CIRCA 3RD CENTURY

Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Art

19 March 2018, 15:00 EDT

New York

Sold for US$25,000 inc. premium

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A GREEN SCHIST PANEL OF THE ENTREATY TO PREACH THE DOCTRINE

SWAT VALLEY, CIRCA 3RD CENTURY
22 x 17 3/4 in. (55 x 45 cm)

Footnotes

斯瓦特約三世紀片岩梵天勸請佛陀說法圖

With Brahma dressed as a sage positioned to his right and Indra in royal garb to his left, the scene depicts an important moment in the life of Buddha. As described in the Mahavatsu, after gaining enlightenment, Buddha was reluctant to teach what was revealed to him, concerned that his insights would be rejected by the world. Observing Buddha's thoughts, Brahma rallied Indra and other gods to implore Buddha to preach and "set rolling the wheel of the dharma" (see Jones, The Mahavastu, Vol. 3., 1956, reprint, London: Forgotten Books, 2013, pp.302-9).

As such, the scene is also an important moment in a larger narrative, foreshadowing the creation of the sangha and the wider spread of Buddhism. Furthermore, from the perspective of Buddhism's growth in the ancient region of Gandhara, the panel didactically raises the Buddhist doctrine above competing for Brahmanic thought and practice, the latter being referenced in the two gods entreating Buddha.

This scene, the use of green schist, and the two motifs of floral roundels within the throne and the richly carved boughs of the Bodhi tree above Buddha proliferated in the Swat Valley, surviving in numerous examples among the archeological record. Comparable pieces depicting the same subject and style are published in Luczanits, Gandhara: Das Buddhistische erbe Pakistans, Mainz, 2008, p.182, fig.3, and pp.203 & 237, nos.119c & 183. See also Ingholt, Gandharan Art in Pakistan, New York, 1957, no.71. Further examples were sold Christie's, London, 16 June 1987, lot 371, and Christie's, Amsterdam, 5 December 1989, lot 137. Also see Kurita, Gandharan Art, vol.I, Tokyo, 1988, p.131, no.257.

Provenance
Heinrich von Brentano, Berlin, 1964
Hans Battenburg, Dusseldorf
Thence by descent

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