Rix Enchères

Seated Bodhisattva representing Avalokiteshvara: Gandhara
4th-5th century AD
Height: 27.9 cm Width: 15.2 cm
Pakistan: Comes probably from Sahri Bahlol, about 70 km from Peshawar.
Gray schist stone
Surface examination BRUSSEL ART LABORATORY: 08/11/2009 Confirms the piece's authenticity.
Presence of rootlets, Fossilized roots.,Nodular and solid appearance of earth deposits.
The Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara is depicted here in a seated position in Dhyanna mudra wearing a lotus bud and/or a crown (book Buddhist Art of Gandhara in the Ashmolean Museum, p.
80).In Ghandhara art, boddhisattvas wearing a crown are rare, even rarer than pensive lotus-bearers. Lotus-bearing and crown￾bearing boddhisattvas are identified as representations of Avalokiteshvara, one of the greatest boddhisattvas of the Mayanist Buddhist movement.The nose and the right part of the halo are destroyed. The nose has been restored.The turban is typical of the boddhisattvas found at Sahri Bahlol:
A historic site consisting of a fortified village located near the ruins of the Buddhist monastery of Takht-i-Bahi. This site has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1980
Our boddhisattva wears numerous pieces of jewelry, including double cylindrical bracelets and heavy earrings made of strings of large beads.
He has four necklaces: the first, circular and made of beads. The second, longer, is made of segmented blocks. A chain is segmented in the same way. Finally, a chain with amulets crosses his body from left to right and passes under his right arm. The iconographic treatment of this piece is stylistically very close to the boddhisattva Maitreya described in the book Buddhist Art of Gandhara in the Ashmolean Museum, p. 78. The broad head, the treatment of the jewelry, and the design of the seat are all elements that indicate that the piece is a late production of Gandhara art, which allows us to date this piece to the 4th-5th century.

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