figure
- Museum number
- 1966,0217.2
- Description
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An schist image of the Buddha standing, with his right hand in varadamudra and his left holding the end of his robe; at his feet is a kneeling devotee; inscribed.
- Production date
- 7thC-8thC
- Dimensions
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Height: 62 centimetres
- $Inscriptions
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- Curator's comments
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"This, the oldest Nepalese image in the British Museum, is executed in the Gupta tradition that was well represented in the Nepal valley..." (Zwalf 1985,122)
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Zwalf 1985
This, the oldest Nepalese image in the British Museum, is executed in the Gupta tradition that was well represented in the Nepal valley, but the treatment of mass is more summary in ways that recall developments in Bihar during the pre-Pala period (c. AD 650-750). The inscription is also still in a Gupta character which seems a little later than many 7th-century examples. It names several donors who dedicate the merit from commissioning this image to the attainment of supreme knowledge (i.e. Buddhahood) by their teachers, kinsfolk and all sentient beings. The kneeling figure may be an undifferentiated donor carved to a common formula without reference to the specific commissioners of the piece.
- Location
- On display (G33/dc58b/s3)
- Exhibition history
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Exhibited:
Buddhism: Art and Faith (BM 1985)
1994, Kyoto National Museum, Masterpieces of Buddhist and Hindu Sculpture from the British Museum
1994, Tokyo, Tobu Museum of Art, Masterpieces of Buddhist and Hindu Sculpture from the British Museum
- Acquisition date
- 1966
- Department
- Asia
- Registration number
- 1966,0217.2