Osmund Bopearachchi, When West Met East: Gandhäran Art Revisited, Volume I (Manohar, 2020), cat.no. 160

Osmund Bopearachchi, When West Met East: Gandhäran Art Revisited, Volume II (Manohar, 2020), p.375-376

This sculpture depicts Bodhisattva Maitreya, regarded as a future Buddha in Buddhist eschatology. The right forearm, halo and the lower part of the body below the knees are broken. The right forearm was originally fixed separately to the remaining part of the hand as indicated by the dovetail mortise. The uttariya covers the upper left arm and passes under the shoulder making a loop of very high edge. The drapery appearing from the back and falling over the right arm is drawn down low with thick edges at the bottom in an oval shape. The torso, left bare, is modelled with raised rounded breasts and abdomen. The pariahâna with a girdle has projecting drapery joining the flask. The pleats are rounded at the bottom. He is richly dressed with lavish jewellery. He wears a flat collar necklace with two rectangular stones placed at the centre one over the other delineated by a string of beads on either side followed by a long winged dragon on either side. The long necklace made of multiple strands terminates with confronting heads of horned monsters with bulging eyes, carved on either side of central faceted stone. Two bracelets are on the left arm, one is a thick bangle while the one over it is made of knots of Heracles created by two intertwined ropes. The armlet on the right arm is decorated with a rosette (only three petals are shown), rows of beads and leaf, rectangular and circular motifs. The oval flask decorated with upturned and reverse petals, is held by the neck between the middle and ring fingers of the left hand. The head is oval to round, with a narrow forehead marked with the urn in low relief. The eyes are long and slightly rounded with clearly cut lids under the curved edges for eyebrows. The well-shaped lips are sharply cut. The ears are long with grooved long lobes. The right ear is damaged while the left carries a simple ring-shaped earring. The hairstyle consists of vertical curled bands thicker below the diadem and ending in abundant curls falling on the shoulders. The upper locks move upwards into a relatively high usnisa secured by a band of beads. The hair is decorated with transversal and horizontal strings of beads enhanced with circular motifs sometimes with rosette in the centre. For several sculptures of standing Bodhisattva Maitreya in Gandharan art, see Zwalf, 1996, figs. 50-64.