
Mark Rasmussen
International Director
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Sold for US$3,187.50 inc. premium
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International Director

Head of Sale, Specialist
犍陀羅 二/三世紀 片岩夜半逾城圖石碑
In the bottom register of this neat and well-preserved stele, Siddhartha rides a horse towards the viewer, relinquishing palace life in pursuit of the spiritual. The horse's gallop is softened by the supporting yaksha below so as not to wake the city guards in the dead of night. To the right, Siddhartha's groom holds the royal parasol aloft, while the figure to the left looking up in astonishment is commonly identified as Mara being unable to prevent Siddhartha's decision. The registers above depict Buddha under the bodhi tree and a bodhisattva (likely Maitreya) being venerated by followers. A pair of parrots perch above.
Buddha's Great Departure was a preferred subject for such lobed false gables, which ornamented a stupa's drum. The Indian Museum, Kolkata, has a complete stupa with false gables of a similar size (Luczanits, Gandhara, Mainz, 2008, p.174, abb.4). Two other false gables with the Great Departure are in Ingholt, Gandharan Art in Pakistan, New York, 1959, no.168, and Kurita, Gandharan Art, Vol.1, Tokyo, 1988, p.82, no.145.
Provenance
The Estate of Benjamin M. Rice II, New York, by 1998