THE MONUMENTAL AND HIGHLY IMPORTANT ‘KIENZLE’ STUCCO STATUE OF BUDDHA GANDHARA, PROBABLY HADDA, CIRCA 3RD-5TH CENTURY

THE LARGEST RECORDED EXAMPLE OF ITS TYPE, RESCUED DURING THE TALIBAN ADVANCE IN 1994

Exhibited: Museum für Asiatische Kunst, Radevormwald, Germany, 2014-2024.

Expert’s note: The present lot is the largest intact seated stucco Buddha ever publicly recorded, representing the pinnacle of Gandharan sculptural achievement. In Gandhara, stucco was primarily used for heads, hands, and feet, while bodies were often crafted from fragile clay, explaining the many disembodied stucco heads that survive today. Due to the material’s susceptibility to water damage, few stucco and clay sculptures have endured, making this monumental piece a rare and significant survival. The technique, particularly refined in Hadda—one of the most important Gandharan centers—was integral to Buddhist iconography of the time. Though often overshadowed by the more durable schist sculptures, stucco was the favored medium for large-scale devotional imagery, as seen in this Buddha, which embodies the artistic and spiritual legacy of Gandhara.

Powerfully modeled seated in dhyanasana on an oval pedestal raised on a waisted lotus base with overlapping petals, the deity’s hands held in dhyanamudra above his lap, dressed in a voluminous sanghati draped over both shoulders, pooling elegantly in U-shaped folds at his ankles and spilling over the edge of the base. The serene face with heavy-lidded almond-shaped eyes, below elegantly arched brows, centered by a recessed circular urna, an aquiline nose above full bow-shaped lips, flanked by elongated earlobes, and the hair arranged in long wavy locks over the domed ushnisha.

Provenance: The collection of Dr. Horst Kienzle, Oberammergau, Germany, acquired in 1994-1995 from Ahmad Sultan Ali, Afghanistan. Bequeathed to the Museum für Asiatische Kunst, Radevormwald, Germany, 2014. Released through museum deaccession in 2024. A copy of a letter written in German by Peter Kienzle-Hardt, confirming the provenance above and detailing the journey of this Buddha from Afghanistan to Oberammergau, Germany, accompanies the lot (for an English translation, see the “The Kienzle Buddha’s Tumultuous Journey” article below). Dr. Horst Kienzle (1924-2019) was an avid traveler and passionate collector of Asian art, together with his two older siblings Else and Reinhold. The three siblings lived together for much of their lives, sharing homes in Stuttgart and Oberammergau, where Horst was chief anesthesiologist at the county hospital between 1968 and 1990. During their many travels, the Kienzles 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 collection had gained renown by the 1970s, and the Kienzles stopped acquiring new pieces around 1985, with the present Buddha being a rare and rather dramatic exception. 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: Overall superb condition, fully commensurate with age. Expected wear, minor losses, signs of weathering and erosion, areas of encrustation, localized flaking, small chips, nicks, and cracks. The pigments appear to have been at least partially renewed within the last century. The sculpture was reassembled from no fewer than three fragments by a conservation specialist in Pakistan (see The Kienzle Buddha’s Tumultuous Journey below). During this process, museum-grade conservation treatment was undertaken, although the scale of the intervention remains undocumented. The very fact that a specialist from Pakistan was later commissioned to travel approximately 6,000 kilometers to Oberammergau to undertake the reassembly indicates the technical complexity of the task. Such an effort would hardly have been necessary had the work been minor or within the routine capabilities of local conservators. It is therefore reasonable to assume that the intervention was substantial. Moreover, the figure had reportedly been dismantled in situ under immediate pressure during the advance of Taliban forces, a period marked by systematic iconoclasm directed against Buddhist imagery. It is conceivable that the sculpture sustained additional structural stress and losses during its hurried dismantling and subsequent clandestine transport out of Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, circumstances that would further explain the scale and difficulty of the later conservation campaign.

Weight: 750 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 230 cm (excl. stand), 265 cm (incl. stand)

Mounted on an associated steel base with a black lacquer wood cover. The figure is further accompanied by a transportation crate allowing for air travel. (3)

The Kienzle Buddha’s Tumultuous Journey
Memory Minutes By Peter Kienzle-Hardt

In 1994, during the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the systematic destruction of Buddhist works of art began—a dramatic loss for the region’s cultural heritage. Amid these difficult circumstances, Dr. Kienzle received a desperate phone call from his close and long-time friend Ahmad Sultan Ali (name possibly misspelled). Ahmad lived in the region and witnessed the growing violence against cultural property. He was particularly concerned about a previously undiscovered Buddha statue that was also at risk of being destroyed. Ahmad asked Dr. Kienzle for assistance in bringing the statue to safety. For Dr. Kienzle, it was immediately clear that he would help—despite the delicate political situation, which made a personal journey impossible. He assured Ahmad of his full financial support in order to remove the Buddha from the country. The rescue operation required careful planning over several weeks. Because of the danger that written communication might be intercepted, the two men remained exclusively in telephone contact—brief, concise conversations, always with underlying risk. The statue had to be dismantled prior to transport, something they had discussed in advance. An expert from Pakistan would later be commissioned to reassemble the sculpture. How exactly Ahmad succeeded in removing the Buddha from the region remains unclear to this day—many details were deliberately left undocumented for security reasons. After a long and risky journey lasting over six months, the individual parts of the statue finally arrived in Oberammergau. One year later, the promised specialist was able to travel there and painstakingly reassembled the Buddha.

For many years, the Waldhaus in St. Gregor in Oberammergau was the home of Dr. Horst Kienzle and his siblings. Dr. Kienzle in particular loved the garden. With great care and personal dedication, he designed and maintained the extensive property. A long-cherished wish of his was to install two monumental bronzes in the garden. However, this plan was never realized. After a serious accident involving his sister Else, the family gradually withdrew from Oberammergau. The siblings relocated to Stuttgart, and the house eventually remained unoccupied. Over time, the estate fell into disrepair and the garden became overgrown. Dr. Kienzle, ultimately living alone, felt overwhelmed by the maintenance and no longer traveled there himself—even though in conversations he would still fondly refer to the ‘Waldhäusle’ (‘small forest house’). In discussions with his longtime friend Peter Hardt, he occasionally mentioned that a few pieces were still there—including a red VW in the barn and “a few little treasures or delicacies,” as he called them—leaving only vague hints. Shortly before the opening of the museum, Peter and Tobias Hardt drove to Oberammergau to investigate. From the road, the house was barely visible—it was completely overgrown, and the property was in neglected condition. In the old barn, they expected to find the announced VW—instead, beneath a tarpaulin, they discovered the present stucco Buddha, which Dr. Kienzle had arranged to have rescued from Afghanistan 20 years earlier. To its right and left lay the two bronze figures that had originally been intended for the garden. For the Hardts, it was immediately clear: these pieces tell not only of art, but also of a deeply personal story, and they deserved a special place in the museum.

Expert remarks on cultural heritage matters
By Alexander Zacke

The statue was exported to Austria on the basis of an export license issued pursuant to §24 of the German Cultural Property Protection Act (Kulturgutschutzgesetz) of the Federal Republic of Germany, dated 24 June 2024.
Prior to this, the figure had been brought from Afghanistan to Germany in 1994 under emergency circumstances during the advance of the Taliban. It is well documented that the Taliban systematically destroyed Afghanistan’s Buddhist heritage. The most widely known example is the destruction in March 2001 of the monumental Buddhas of Bamiyan, dating from the 6th century, which were deliberately blown up after international appeals for their preservation were rejected.
Likewise, the archaeological site of Hadda, one of the most important centers of Gandharan Buddhist art, suffered extensive looting and destruction. Numerous monasteries and stupas were destroyed, sculptures were smashed, and the remaining material was dispersed or lost to illicit excavation. The broader pattern is clear: Buddhist monuments were not merely collateral damage of war, they were intentionally eradicated as part of a fundamental Islamist campaign.
No formal documents from 1994 exist. The removal must be understood against the backdrop of armed conflict and the imminent threat of destruction.
At present, repatriation to Afghanistan is not an option. The Taliban remain in power, and based on their documented systematic destruction of Buddhist cultural heritage, the loss of this figure would be a certainty, especially as no institutional framework exists today that could ensure its long-term preservation. Nevertheless, it cannot be ruled out that the political and cultural landscape in Afghanistan may change in the far future, although recent history provides little reason for confidence.

This extraordinary stucco sculpture stands as a remarkable testament to the heights of Gandharan art during a period of profound religious and cultural exchange. Towering at 2.3 meters, this monumental Buddha exemplifies the fusion of foreign styles and Buddhist ideals that defined the Gandharan artistic tradition, which emerged as a direct result of the region’s strategic position along the ancient Silk Road.

Gandhara, located in the rugged foothills of the Himalayas, was a thriving cultural crossroads, where Greek, Parthian, and Kushan influences converged with the indigenous Buddhist tradition. The wealth of the region, bolstered by its pivotal role in trade, allowed for the commissioning of grandiose sculptures and monumental icons that reflected the evolving Buddhist philosophy, particularly from the 4th to 5th centuries AD. These works embodied the transformative ideologies of a flourishing Gandharan society, as seen in their increasingly complex iconography and monumental scale.

The use of stucco in Gandharan sculpture, particularly at sites such as Hadda, represents a pivotal moment in the history of Buddhist art. Sculptural production in this medium was central to the period, allowing for rapid construction of large-scale images and architectural decoration, as evidenced by the extensive findings at Takht-i-Bahi, where over 270 sculptures were uncovered, many dating to the 3rd to 5th centuries AD. The speed and flexibility of stucco as a material made it ideal for the dynamic religious patronage of the time, where monumental images were created to adorn both monastic shrines and sacred spaces.

Hadda, situated in modern-day Afghanistan, is perhaps the most significant archaeological site for the study of Gandharan stucco. The site, thought to be the origin of this Buddha, reveals the mastery of stucco sculptors who combined Greco-Buddhist styles with Buddhist iconography. These sculptures, like the present lot, would have been integral to the visual and spiritual landscape of Buddhist monasticism. Though much of Hadda was destroyed during the civil war and subsequent looting by the Taliban, its profound legacy continues to influence the understanding of Gandharan art.

Notably, the colossal scale of this Buddha, executed completely in stucco, underscores the extraordinary technical and artistic achievements of Gandharan artisans. These monumental sculptures were not only symbols of the Buddha’s spiritual power but also visual markers of the flourishing Buddhist patronage and the expansive networks that supported it. The preservation of such masterpieces, particularly those crafted in the resilient medium of stucco, offers a direct link to the cultural and religious vibrancy of ancient Gandhara.

Literature comparison:
For related monumental stucco figures, see a figure of a meditating Buddha in the Taxila Museum, Pakistan; a 1975 photograph by Louis Dupree of a seated Hadda Buddha, in the National Museum of Afghanistan, Kabul; a seated Buddha with the hands in dharmachakra mudra, Hadda or Taxila, dated 4^th-5^th century, in the Miho Museum, Japan, accession number H-78; and one of the last intact figures of Buddha in the Bhamla Stupa, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa district, Pakistan. The sizes of the pieces above appear to not have been recorded but it seems unlikely that any of them are substantially larger than the present lot.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Bonhams Hong Kong, 2 October 2018, lot 8
Price: HKD 4,660,000 or approx. EUR 584,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A polychromed stucco head of Buddha, Ancient region of Gandhara, circa 4^th-5^th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling of the face with similar heavy-lidded eyes and stylized wavy hair. Note the size (61 cm) and state of preservation.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Bonhams Hong Kong, 2 October 2018, lot 9
Price: HKD 3,100,000 or approx. EUR 389,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A stucco panel of Buddha surrounded by Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, Ancient Region of Gandhara, 4^th-5^th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling with similar stylized wavy hair, voluminous garments, and facial expression. Note the much smaller size (111 cm).

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 27 March 2003, lot 17
Price: USD 276,300 or approx. EUR 414,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A stucco figure of Buddha, Gandhara, circa 3^rd century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling with similar stylized wavy hair, voluminous garments, and facial expression. Note the much smaller size (59.6 cm).