Finely carved, the serene face with heavy-lidded almond-shaped eyes, elegantly arched brows centered by a raised circular urna, full lips, and a wavy mustache, flanked by leogryph earrings. His coiffure is secured by a finely embellished and jeweled turban, immaculately arranged in a topknot fronted by a crest depicting Garuda with wings spreadeagle abducting a maiden, flanked by centaurs.

The crest depicts a rather coarsely executed female figure, from the back of whose neck rises a long snake, borne into the air by a great eagle, who carries her away, its talons holding her by the waist. The features of the figure are distorted with pain as the eagle's beak tears at the serpent. The bird itself with a turban on its head.

Provenance: Collection of Giovanni Testori and Alain Toubas, acquired in the Italian antiques trade in the 1990s or earlier. Collection of Leonardo Vigorelli, Bergamo, Italy, acquired from the above. Giovanni Testori (1923-1993) was an Italian writer, journalist, poet, art and literary critic, dramatist, screenplay writer, theatrical director, and painter. His screenplays were directed by Luchino Visconti during the 1960s. Testori had met Alain Pierre Toubas (1938-2021), his long-time companion, at the end of the 1950s. Leonardo Vigorelli is a retired Italian art dealer and noted collector, specializing in African and ancient Hindu-Buddhist art. After studying anthropology and decades of travel as well as extensive field research in India, the Himalayan region, Southeast Asia, and Africa, he founded the Dalton Somaré art gallery in Milan, Italy, which today is being run by his two sons.
Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear, obvious losses, chips, nicks, scratches, natural imperfections including fissures, signs of weathering and erosion, and encrustations. Old repairs to the nose and one earring.

Dimensions: Height 70 cm (excl. stand), 85 cm (incl. stand)

Mounted on an associated stand. (2)

The present head is extraordinarily rare due to its exceptional size and was once part of a towering statue standing around twelve feet tall, probably gracing the exterior of a significant temple or cave shrine. By the fourth and fifth centuries, monumental imagery became increasingly popular in Gandhara and was almost exclusively restricted to images of the Buddha and, to a lesser extent, bodhisattvas. Cult images of bodhisattvas became an important dimension of Mahayana Buddhist worship and monasteries of the Gandharan region commissioned large-scale bodhisattvas in recognition of the growing popularity of these interventionist deities, which embody Buddhist compassion. These statues were executed primarily in clay, with stucco being used for the hands, feet, and heads. Stone sculptures of this scale are extremely rare as such large pieces of schist were not readily available nor were they stable; this rock type easily broke along bedding planes. See a torso of a bodhisattva, 163.8 cm tall, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 1995.419, which originally would have stood more than 10 feet tall, giving us a sense of the sophistication and quality of work being done in this period. For further discussion, see Kurt Behrendt, Timeline of Art History: Gandhara, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1 April 2012.

Expert’s note:
The Garuda motif found on the turban is known to be depicted in the headdresses of images of bodhisattvas, although it is rarely found in surviving examples, see one collected in Shabaz-Garhi, Pakistan by Alfred Foucher and now in the Musée Guimet, dated 1^st-3^rd century, 120 cm high. The museum suggests the subject may be Gautama or Avalokiteshvara. Largely intact, the present head provides a rare opportunity to observe ancient haute couture, giving an exact rendition of a Kushan turban, with figural decoration at the sides and ruffled fabric surrounding a splendid crest. Traditionally, the emblem has been viewed as an amalgamation of the perpetual feud between the Garuda and the nagas. The bird-like creature is said to eat snakes daily in vengeance against the Naga tribes, the snakes who had turned his mother into a slave. In the Jatakas there are two or three tales that speak of the Garuda king carrying off a beautiful queen from her husband. The queen is carried by the mythical bird, only to be returned unharmed after her king (the bodhisattva, in fact) performs an act of selfless kindness. And lastly, with reason, the subject has found parallels in the Greek mythological event when Zeus turns into an eagle and kidnaps the boy Ganymede.

Literature comparison:
Compare a related Gandharan stucco head of a bodhisattva, 4^th-5^th century, 80 cm high, in the Asian Civilisations Museum, accession number 2011-01960. Compare a related Gandharan stucco head of a bodhisattva, dated 5^th century, 50.2 cm high, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 1977.191.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams New York, 23 July 2020, lot 809
Price: USD 50,075 or approx. EUR 59,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A schist head of Siddhartha, Ancient region of Gandhara, circa 3rd century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of carving, with a similar crest depicting Garuda on the turban. Note the much smaller size (33.7 cm).

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams New York, 19 March 2018, lot 3078
Price: USD 275,000 or approx. EUR 310,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A large schist head of Buddha, ancient region of Gandhara, 3rd/4th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of carving. Note the much smaller size (47.3 cm).