A RARE AND MONUMENTAL (175 CM HIGH) GRAY SCHIST TORSO OF BUDDHA SHAKYAMUNI, KUSHAN PERIOD, ANCIENT REGION OF GANDHARA, CIRCA 2ND-3RD CENTURY
This lot is a museum deaccession and is therefore offered without reserve

Superbly carved, standing in a slight tribhanga with the left hand lowered and grasping the hem of his voluminous robe gracefully cascading in naturalistically modeled U-shaped folds that reveal the harmonious contours of his powerful body, further enhanced by cream-colored encrustations.

Provenance: The Kienzle Family Collection, Stuttgart, Germany. Acquired between 1950 and 1985 by siblings Else (1912-2006), Reinhold (1917-2008), and Dr. Horst Kienzle (1924-2019), during their extensive travels in Asia. Subsequently inherited by Dr. Horst Kienzle and bequeathed to the Museum für Asiatische Kunst, Radevormwald, Germany. Released through museum deaccession in 2024. The Kienzle siblings were avid travelers and passionate collectors of Asian and Islamic art. During their travels, the Kienzle’s sought out and explored temples, monasteries, and markets, always trying to find the best pieces wherever they went, investing large sums of money and forging lasting relationships to ensure they could acquire them. Their fervor and success in this pursuit is not only demonstrated by their collection but further recorded in correspondences between Horst Kienzle and several noted dignitaries, businesses and individuals in Nepal and Ladakh. Their collection had gained renown by the 1970s, but the Kienzle’s stopped acquiring new pieces around 1985. Almost thirty years later, the collection was moved to the Museum für Asiatische Kunst, Radevormwald, opened by Peter Hardt in 2014. Before his death in 2019, Horst Kienzle bequeathed his entire property to Peter Hardt and legally adopted him as his son, who has been using the name Peter Kienzle-Hardt ever since.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Obvious losses, signs of weathering and erosion particularly to the reverse, encrustations, minor old fills, structural cracks, chips, nicks, scratches.
German Export License: Ausfuhrgenehmigung Nr. 132/2024, dated 25 June 2024, has been granted. A copy accompanies this lot.

Weight: approx. 740 kg (incl. base)
Dimensions: Height 175 cm (excl. base), 218 cm (incl. base)

Mounted on an associated metal stand. (2)

Gandhara was an ancient region in present-day northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan, and a major center for Buddhist culture and art from around the 1st century BC to the 5th century AD. Situated on the historic Silk Route, Gandhara served as a geographical junction where early elements of the Western classical world intersected with Indian iconography and regional traditions. The impact of Hellenistic art on Gandhara represents an intriguing instance of cultural interplay following Alexander the Great's 4th-century BC conquests and the ensuing formation of Hellenistic realms in Central Asia. This integration of Greek artistic traditions with indigenous and Buddhist motifs gave rise to the unique style of Gandharan art, prominently visible from the 1st century CE onward. However, it wasn’t until the 2nd century that the first human images of the Buddha (rather than aniconic images such as footprints, riderless horses, and parasols) began to appear.

The Gandharan Buddhist culture was characterized by its distinctive art style, which combined Greek artistic styles such as a highly realistic depiction of human facial features and expressions, a naturalistic portrayal of the human body, along with detailed treatment of muscles and drapery. This was a major departure from the more stylized and abstracted forms common in earlier Indian art. Sculptures of the historical Shakyamuni Buddha such as the present, for instance, often show him in a robe that closely drapes his body, revealing the form beneath in a manner reminiscent of Greek and Roman statues. The present torso exemplifies this art form and is one of the largest Gandharan torso sculptures preserved outside of Pakistan. Only a very small number of Gandharan sculptures would have been larger, including, for instance, the 2.5m standing figure of Buddha in the Miho Museum, illustrated in Catalogue of the Miho Museum, Kyoto, 1997, pl. 72.

Literature comparison:
Compare two well-known closely related Gandharan schist figures of Buddha, 264 and 213 cm high, unearthed from Sahri-Bahlol Mound B and now in the Peshawar Museum, illustrated for example in Juhyung Rhi, “Identifying Several Visual Types in Gandhāran Buddha Images.” Archives of Asian Art, vol. 58, 2008, p. 43-85, figs. 11 and 13.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 21 March 2024, lot 814
Estimate: USD 300,000 or approx. EUR 266,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A monumental torso of Shakyamuni Buddha, Ancient region of Gandhara, 3^rd-4th Century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of carving with similar posture and robe. Note the smaller size (144.8 cm).

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s Paris, 13 June 2018, lot 232
Price: EUR 247,500 or approx. EUR 289,000 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare and important grey schist torso of Buddha Shakyamuni, ancient region of Gandhara, 2^nd-3^rd century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of carving with similar posture and robe. Note the smaller size (129 cm).