Provenance:
Sotheby's, New York, March 22, 1989, no. 6
European Private Collection
Rossi & Rossi, Ltd., London
Scottish Private Collection, acquired in 2013
Sakyamuni Buddha sits beneath an elaborate architectural canopy supported by two columns, his hands raised in dharmachakra mudra, the gesture associated with the First Sermon. He sits cross-legged on a lotus throne, flanked by two smaller attendants whose scale emphasizes the central figure. Above him, the canopy rises into an arched form crowned by a decorative architectural element.
Originally part of the architectural decoration of a Buddhist stupa, the carving was most likely made as a false-gable (caitya) panel. Such reliefs appeared on the exterior of Gandharan stupas, incorporating images of the Buddha, attendants, donors, and narrative scenes into the architectural setting of the monument.
The gray schist and deeply-drilled folds of the Buddha’s robe are characteristic of Gandharan sculpture, while the Corinthian capitals and arched canopy draw upon architectural forms derived from the Hellenistic world. Here, these elements present the Buddha as teacher: the orderly arrangement of columns, attendants, throne, and canopy emphasizes his position at the center, while the dharmachakra mudra identifies the sacred moment represented.
See W. Zwalf, A Catalogue of the Gandhāra Sculpture in the British Museum, London, 1996, pp. 248–249, pl. 446, for a similar false gable with three compartments.
