A GOLD REPOUSSÉ ‘CROWNED BUDDHA’ PENDANT, ANCIENT REGION OF GANDHARA

Kushan Empire, circa 1^st-4^th century AD. Constructed of a finely hammered sheet joined to a plain backing sheet, framed by a thickly granulated border, the rectangular pendant depicts Buddha seated in dhyanasana atop a cushion.

His right hand is gently lowered in varada mudra and the left rests on his knees. The Buddha wears a pointed cape, ornamental jewelry, and a robe with fine folds, the face sensitively modeled in a serene expression with heavy-lidded eyes and bow-shaped lips forming a subtle smile, crowned by a foliate tiara.

Provenance: The collection of The Zelnik István Southeast Asian Gold Museum. Institutional art collection in Belgium, acquired from the above. Dr. István Zelnik, President of the Hungarian South and Southeast Asian Research Institute, is a former high-ranking Hungarian diplomat who spent several decades in Southeast Asia, building the largest known private collection of Asian art in Europe.
Condition: Good condition, with expected ancient wear consistent with ritual handling. Manufacturing irregularities, signs of burial, encrustations, light scratches, minor tears and losses, small dings, and traces of old soldering.
Alloy composition range: 80.01% gold, 17.47% silver, 1.34% copper, 1.17% iron. The lot was tested by the Zelnik István Southeast Asian Gold Museum.

Weight: 22.5g
Dimensions: Size 8.1 x 5.5 cm

Crowned Buddha images from Gandhara represent a significant development in Buddhist art where the visual language of kingship was blended with religious meaning. Unlike the more familiar depictions of the Buddha as a humble monk in plain robes, these crowned figures are shown with jeweled capes, crowns, and ornaments. Some scholars argue that these features identify the Buddha as a cakravartin, or universal sovereign, suggesting that his authority extended beyond the spiritual into the cosmic realm. Others interpret the crown as a sign of advanced attainment, representing the Buddha in his sambhogakaya or enjoyment body, a transcendent form revealed in meditation and central to Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. For further discussion of this fascinating and rare iconography, see Rebecca Twist, "Images of the Crowned Buddha along the Silk Road: Iconography and Ideology." Humanities, vol. 7, no. 4, 2018, p. 92. Examples of similar crowned Buddhas in Gandharan art can be found on a stucco figure of Buddha dated 2nd-4th century in the Walmore Collection, London, illustrated ibid., fig. 1, and on a Buddha painted in niche I at Bamiyan, dated 7th century, illustrated ibid., fig. 2 (both photographs courtesy of John C. Huntington).

Expert’s note: The varada mudra is rare in Gandharan Buddha images, and more often found in later works from the Swat Valley and Kashmir, where it is associated with the Buddha Ratnasambhava.

Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related smaller Kushan gold repoussé buckle with Hariti and Panchika, possibly from Taxila, dated to the 4^th century, 4.4 cm wide, in the Victoria & Albert Museum, accession number IS.10-1948. Compare a related Gandharan bronze finial depicting the enthroned Buddha, dated 4^th-5^th century, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 2015.782.1.