2nd century AD. A magnificent twice life-size grey schist head of a Bodhisattva, possibly Prince Siddhartha, with elaborate curled flowing hair and topknot, heavy circular earrings, serene features and expression; the surfaces gilded with underlying red size and a domed crystal urna to forehead; with custom-made columnar stand. 115 kg total, 57cm tall (191cm on stand) (22 1/2" (75")). Cf. Lyons, Islay and Ingholt, Harald The Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1971, no.286, from Peshawar possibly and by the same sculptor; and see Czuma, S., Images from Early India, Cleveland, 1985, fig.115; and the British Museum Magazine, BMS 26, 1996; and Kurita, Isao Gandharan Art II, The World of the Buddha, Japan, 1990. Siddhartha Gautama, a historical figure, was born a Kshatriya prince in the Nepalese Terai on the border with India circa 563 BC. He was the son of King Suddhodana and Queen Maya of the Sakyas in the kingdom of Magadha and belonged to the clan of Gautama. He renounced his kingdom, his wife and his child to become an ascetic and wandered, meditated, preached throughout the region before he achieved enlightenment, becoming the first Buddha, founder of Buddhism in North India and depicted in Gandharan art as Bodhisattva Siddhartha, or Prince Siddhartha, the Buddha prior to his enlightenment. Property of a North London gentleman; previously with Howard Naville in the 1970s; supplied with geologic report No. TL005230, by geologic consultant Dr R. L. Bonewitz. [A video of this item is available to view on TimeLine Auctions website.]

Very fine condition. Extremely rare.