Provenance:
Collection of Bernard Gantner (1928–2018)
Osenat, Fontainebleau, “Collection du Musée Gantner,” January 19, 2014, no. 108
Five geese, likely hamsa—a sacred goose or swan in Indian tradition—move in procession across the panel. Their rounded bodies, long curved necks, and individually-turned heads create a sequence of overlapping forms. Parallel lines describe the feathers of their wings, while the compact bodies and sturdy legs give each bird a distinct presence. A narrow band of repeated ornament runs below the figures.
The hamsa was a recurring motif in Indian art, appearing in sculpture and architectural ornament from at least the Sunga period onward. It also acquired Buddhist associations: a hamsa frieze appears on the Vajrasana at Bodh Gaya, and the Hamsa Jataka recounts one of the Buddha's previous lives as a great goose. Here, the birds form a continuous procession, with small variations in their poses and the direction of their heads.
This relief was formerly in the collection of the French painter and collector Bernard Gantner, whose private Musée Gantner near Belfort brought together archaeological and ethnographic works from Europe, Asia, and the Mediterranean.
