
Jing Wen
Cataloguer
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Sold for €53,295 inc. premium
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Cataloguer

International Director

International Specialist

Head of Sale, Specialist
A SCHIST HEAD OF BUDDHA
ANCIENT REGION OF GANDHARA, 3RD/4TH CENTURY
犍陀羅 三/四世紀 片岩佛首
Provenance:
With Claude de Marteau, Brussels, by 1970s
Confidently carved, the Buddha's wavy locks, pulled over the ushnisha, convey the master sculptor's pursuit of realism inspired by Greco-Roman aesthetics. The facial features are remarkably well preserved, including the faintly outlined pupils of his heavy lidded eyes. The soft cheeks, fleshy lower lip, and the ears remain wonderfully modelled with precise contours and thick lobes.
Compare a closely related example sold at Christie's, New York, 19 March 2013, lot 201. Further comparison can be made with the head of a standing Buddha in the British Museum (Zwalf, A Catalogue of the Gandhara Sculpture in the British Museum, Vol. I , 1996, p. 10, no. 3), showing a similar treatment of the hair, and a calm, nuanced expression.