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A stucco sculpture of a man sitting cross-legged and wearing a draped robe.

The stucco sculpture is of a man sitting cross-legged with both of his hands together in his lap. The sculpture is pale tan in color. His head is slightly tilted to his left. He is wearing a draped robe that covers his left shoulder and his lap. He is wearing a bracelet on his right wrist, two necklaces, and a headpiece. His hair is down behind his ears and is shoulder-length. His headpiece has two pieces that come together in an “X” shape and there is a detailed round shape above.

Gallery Text

Although its popularity would not take hold in China until several centuries after its introduction during the Eastern Han period (25–220 CE), the religious teachings of Buddhism began in South Asia around the 5th century BCE, and by the 3rd century BCE, figural images with distinctive regional styles arose. Two grew to particular prominence, later serving as major inspirations for artisans in Central Asia and China. In the northwestern region of ancient Gandhara (parts of present-day India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan), artisans working in brightly polychromed gray schist or white stucco took their cues from Greek sculpture, creating figures with Classical facial features, thick curly locks, and heavy drapery. Gandhara was ruled by a series South Asian Buddhist Sculpture of Indo-Greek kings from the fourth century BCE onward and long served as an important artistic gateway between India and the West. Meanwhile, near the northcentral Indian city of Mathura, artisans drew inspiration from indigenous Indian sculptural styles, celebrating the corporeality of the body, which they draped in diaphanous robes that revealed its structure. Mathuran images were typically sculpted in mottled red sandstone quarried in nearby Sikri, and like their Gandharan counterparts, they were naturalistically painted. Visual elements drawn from both of these styles are visible in the early Chinese Buddhist sculptures on display in the next gallery.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1978.102
Title
Seated Bodhisattva in Meditation, His Hands in Dhyana-mudra
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture, figurine
Date
2nd-4th century
Places
Creation Place: Central Asia, Afghanistan
Period
Kushan period, c.100 BCE-250 CE
Culture
Afghan
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/201914

Location

Location
Level 1, Room 1740, Early Chinese Art, Arts of Ancient China from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age
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Physical Descriptions

Medium
Stucco with traces of polychromy; Gandharan style, perhaps from Hadda, Afghanistan
Technique
Stucco
Dimensions
H. 51 x W. 30.5 x D. 12 cm (20 1/16 x 12 x 4 3/4 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Ellen O. Jennings, Ipswich, MA (by 1978), gift; to Fogg Art Museum, 1978.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Mrs. Ellen O. Jennings in memory of Horace D. Chapin
Accession Year
1978
Object Number
1978.102
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Exhibition History

  • S424: Indian and Southeast Asian Sculpture, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 10/20/1985 - 08/01/2008
  • 32Q: 1740 Early China I, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 06/18/2024; Harvard Art Museums, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

Subjects and Contexts

  • Google Art Project

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu