Gandharan / Head of Buddha / Kushan period, late 2nd-3rd century

Gandharan
Head of Buddha
Kushan period, late 2nd-3rd century
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Creator Nationality: Asian; Indian Sub-Continent; Indian
Creator Name-CRT: Gandharan
Title: Head of Buddha
View: Full View
Creation Start Date: 167
Creation End Date: 299
Creation Date: Kushan period, late 2nd-3rd century
Creation Place: Pakistan, Gandhara area
Object Type: Sculpture
Materials and Techniques: Phyllite
Dimensions: H. 14 1/2 in. (36.8 cm)
AMICA Contributor: Asia Society
Owner Location: New York, New York, USA
ID Number: 1979.002
Credit Line: Asia Society: The Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection
Rights: http://www.asiasociety.org
Context: Most of the earliest known images of buddhas and other Buddhist deities were produced in northwest India during the Kushan period, about six hundred years after the religion was founded. There were two major centers of Kushan culture, each with its distinctive style: art from the city of Mathura in Uttar Pradesh displays a traditional Indian aesthetic, while art from Gandhara shows the impact of Hellenistic and Roman sculpture, owing to the sustained effect of Alexander the Great's conquest of the region in the 4th century BCE. The influence of Greek and Roman prototypes is evident in the wavy hair and facial features of this Buddha's head from Gandhara. However, the elongated ears and physical marks such as the urna ("third eye") in the center of his forehead are long-established Indian aesthetic conventions.
Related Document Description: Asia Society. Handbook of the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection. New York: Asia Society, [1981], p. 7.
Related Document Description: Czuma, Stanislaw J. Kushan Sculpture: Images from Early India. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1985, p. 200.
Related Document Description: Heeramaneck, Alice N. Masterpieces of Indian Sculpture from the Former Collections of Nasli M. Heeramaneck. New York: Privately printed, 1979, fig. 10.
Related Document Description: Newman, Richard. The Stone Sculpture of India: A Study of the Materials Used by Indian Sculptors from ca. 2nd Century B.C. to the 16th Century. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Art Museums, Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, 1984, pp. 57, 82, 84.
AMICA ID: ASIA.1979.002
AMICA Library Year: 1998
Media Metadata Rights: Copyright, Asia Society

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