Sculpture thumbnail 1
On display
Image of Gallery in South Kensington

Sculpture

Sculpture
4th century - 5th Century (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown

A male head, probably of Buddha. Modelled in stucco of which only the long oval face survives, the back of the head has been broken away. Traces of wavy hair are visible curling above the proper left ear (which is missing), and there are traces of red paint on the lips and eyelids. The hair line is slightly pointed and the eyebrows are shown as sharp edges over the heavily lidded long narrow eyes. A rounded chin juts out under the well-defined lips below an aquiline nose.

Object details

Object type
Sculpture
TitleSculpture (Generic title)
Materials and techniques
Stucco
Modelling
Brief description
Male head, probably the Buddha,stucco, 4th/5th century, Gandhara.
Physical description
A male head, probably of Buddha. Modelled in stucco of which only the long oval face survives, the back of the head has been broken away. Traces of wavy hair are visible curling above the proper left ear (which is missing), and there are traces of red paint on the lips and eyelids. The hair line is slightly pointed and the eyebrows are shown as sharp edges over the heavily lidded long narrow eyes. A rounded chin juts out under the well-defined lips below an aquiline nose.
Dimensions
  • Height: 41cm
  • Width: 25cm
Gallery label
(04/12/2020)
Head of the Buddha
300–500

Although we don't know exactly where this head came from, it probably belonged to a seated or upright figure of the Buddha that, if standing, would have measured over two metres. The figure would have been attached to the wall of a shrine, perhaps flanked by other Buddhist deities. If you look closely, you can see traces of red paint on the Buddha’s lips. His heavy-lidded eyes suggest a feeling of tranquillity.

Lime and gypsum composition with traces of paint
Gandhara/North-west Pakistan, or Afghanistan
Museum no. IM.73-1939
Collected on the 1938 Barger and Wright archaeological expedition to the Swat valley, Pakistan, and Afghanistan
Object history
Acquired from Evert Barger, Lecturer in Medieval History at the University of Bristol and Philip Wright, V&A Museum, as part of the collection of finds excavated during their expedition to the Swat valley in 1938. This object was numbered 340 in Barger's lists.

The head bears similarities with one in the British Museum, OA 1935.3-12.1, which also came from Swat. See W. Zwalf, A Catalogue of Gandharan Sculpture in the British Museum, British Museum Press, London, 1996, 2 vols, No 545.
Production
Gandhara
Subject depicted
Buddhist
Bibliographic references
  • Royal Academy, Exhibition of Indian Art, 1947-48, No 104, cat no. 137 (104), p. 40 Barger, E. and Wright, P., ‘Excavations in Swat and Explorations in the Oxus Territories of Afghanistan, a detailed report of the 1938 expedition’, Memoirs of the Archaeological Survey of India, vol. 64, Calcutta, 1941
  • The art of India and Pakistan, a commemorative catalogue of the exhibition held at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1947-8. Edited by Sir Leigh Ashton. London: Faber and Faber, [1950] p. 40, cat. no. 137
Collection
South & South East Asia Collection
Accession number
IM.73-1939

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Record createdJune 20, 2002
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O66208/sculpture-sculpture-unknown/
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