COLOSSAL SCHIST BUDDHA HEAD


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COLOSSAL SCHIST BUDDHA HEAD

GANDHARA, 2ND– 3RD CENTURY

H. 48 CMS, 19 INS

A colossal, exquisitely carved, black schist Buddha head with a tranquil expression, the hair wavy and rising symmetrically to a bun-shaped usnisha, the forehead with a trace of an urna, the almond-shaped eyes open beneath arched brows.

For examples of similar schist Buddha heads, see nos. 268-270 in H. Ingholt, Gandharan Art in Pakistan, New York, 1957. The British Museum has a Buddha bust from Takht-i-Bahi – see no. 38 in W. Zwalf, A Catalogue of the Gandhara Sculpture in the British Museum, London, 1996.

Provenance: Private collection, UK.