ANCIENT REGION OF GANDHARA, 3RD-4TH CENTURY CE

The present figure of a bodhisattva is classic example of Gandharan sculpture. While an identification cannot be certain without surviving attributes, the figure might represent Maitreya, based on the hairstyle generally reserved for this bodhisattva. If this is the case, the present figure would have held a water vessel in his left hand. The iconic water vessel, kumbha, is found in many different contexts within Indian sculpture, but is almost always a symbol of fertility and life. Maitreya is considered the Buddha of the future— when the dharma is forgotten on Earth, he will descend from the Tushita Heaven to be born in our realm as the next Buddha. Thus, the vessel is an apt visual icon for his role as a progenitor of future peace and order.
When he is born on earth, Maitreya will be of Brahmin stock, and is depicted in rich robes similar to those of the historical Gautama Buddha prior to his renunciation of worldly goods. His vestments include a beaded hair ornament, geometrically-incised torq, a beaded necklace, and a cord with cylindrical amulet boxes of a type still in use in South Asia. The heavy folds of his sanghati display the naturalistic treatment of drapery characteristic of the Gandharan period that is a holdover from the earlier Greek influence in the region. The muscular definitions of his torso fully embody the virility of youth, while his handsome face, bearing a curled mustache, indicates his accumulated wisdom. He stands upon a base depicting Buddha in meditation among his devoted attendants.
The present bodhisattva may be compared with a similar figure in the collection of the Royal Ontario Museum (acc. no. 939.18.1), a standing figure of Maitreya at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (acc. no. 1991.75) and a similarly-scaled gray schist torso of Maitreya sold at Christie’s New York on 11 September 2019, lot 320. All works in reference exhibit a comparable rendering of the figure’s robes, ornaments, and facial features. The example at the Metropolitan Museum of Art features a thematically similar base, with donor figures attending to a reliquary in place of Buddha himself.