Early Gandharan Buddhist art exhibition at Bonhams Hong Kong
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Thursday, December 12, 2024


Early Gandharan Buddhist art exhibition at Bonhams Hong Kong
An Inscribed Schist Casket with Associated Relics, Ancient Region of Gandhara, dated by inscription to 26/27 CE. Photo: Bonhams.



HONG KONG.- The ancient region of Gandhara, which spanned modern-day northwest Pakistan and southern Afghanistan, was home to a vibrant, cosmopolitan civilization situated at the crossroads of Asia. Early Buddhism thrived in Gandhara under the stability and patronage of several ancient kingdoms and empires, drawn there by the region’s lucrative geographic position within global trade and commerce. This resulted in a Buddhist material culture rich in artistic influences and subjects from Europe, Northern Africa, and Asia, epitomised at Bonhams’ forthcoming exhibition in Hong Kong: Cultural Exchange at the Crossroads of Asia: Early Buddhist Art in Context. Open to the public from 31 March through 20 April 2023 at Bonhams Hong Kong saleroom, the exhibition showcases twenty-two objects from one of the finest collections of Gandharan art in private hands, providing a rare opportunity for the public to view artifacts evincing Asia’s ancient multicultural diversity.

This collection is the fruit of one collector’s single-minded pursuit of works of art from this unique period of world history. Forming the core of the 1992 landmark published exhibition, The Crossroads of Asia: Transformation in Image and Symbol in the Art of Ancient Afghanistan and Pakistan, at the Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, this collection has been the ultimate point of reference for scholars and collectors for the past 30 years. Here are rare and beautiful decorative arts in silver, bronze sculpture, gold jewellery, and schist Buddhist reliquaries, ranging from the 3rd century BCE to the 6th century CE, charting numerous exciting cross sections in Eastern and Western beliefs and aesthetic traditions.

Edward Wilkinson, Bonhams Global Head of Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Art, commented: “Since their initial exhibition in 1992, very few comparative objects have come to light, testifying to the extreme rarity and importance of each of the collection’s artifacts. We are therefore delighted to be showcasing it in April in Hong Kong – a city embodying the same kind of cosmopolitan spirit as Gandhara did nearly 2,000 years ago.”

In 330 BCE, Alexander the Great conquered the ancient region of Gandhara and, together with the Indo-Greek kings that succeeded him, introduced classical traditions that became an important part of Gandharan artistic taste over the next seven centuries. An extraordinarily complex and refined silver cup from the turn of the Common Era (imaged above), which was either made in or dispatched to Gandhara, depicts Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and theatre, who is later depicted frequently in the stone sculpture and monuments of early Buddhist art in Gandhara.

Starting about 50 BCE, the overland trade network passing between the Mediterranean and Western Asia through Gandhara and on to Central Asia and China was dramatically enhanced by the introduction of ocean routes employing monsoon winds to cross the Arabian Sea. Gandharan control of the high mountain passes between the Indian Subcontinent and Central Asia was vital to this international commerce and made the region wealthy. Gandhara’s resulting cosmopolitan elites became some of the most influential Buddhist patrons during the formative period of the religion’s art and material culture.

A highlight of the collection is one of the most important surviving Gandharan Buddhist reliquaries because it establishes the start of an entire historic period, known as the Indo-Greek period (175/4 BCE) — fundamental information which had evaded scholars for more than one-hundred years before its inscription was read. This heavily referenced inscribed schist casket with associated relics (imaged front) is dated according to three different calendrical systems, serving as something of a chronological ‘rosetta stone’ for the ancient region of Gandhara. Among the Indo-Greek kings, is one of Buddhism’s most famous early royal patrons, King Menander I, whose conversion to Buddhism by the Arhat Nagasena is the subject of a prominent sutra known as the Milindapañha (那先比丘經, the “Questions of [Menander]”). This casket, replete with ancient jewellery and precious relics, also demonstrates that the Indo-Scythian rulers, who commissioned it, followed Menander I in the practice of royal Buddhist sponsorship in Gandhara. This keystone artifact greatly advances our understanding of the development of Gandharan Buddhism during its formative period, before the advent of the many Kushan monuments (1st – 4th century CE) by which it is best known today.

Also of note is a silver inlaid bronze figure of the Infant Buddha, 5th – 6th century CE (imaged above). The bronze is a rare example of the subject early in its eastward transmission between the 5th and 8th centuries to China and East Asia, where the cult of the Infant Buddha subsequently flourished. The divine child’s gentle smile and warm demeanor are enlivened by silver inlay to the urna and eyes, following a technique characteristic of North Indian Buddhist bronzes.

Other highlights include:

• A Gold And Rock Crystal Stupa, Ancient Region of Gandhara, 2nd century CE.

• A Leaded Bronze Statuette of Demeter, Ancient Region of Bactria, 2nd-1st century BCE

• A Gold Earring of Eros, Ancient Regions of Gandhara, 1st century CE

• Two Bronze Kanishka I Tetradrachms [Coins] of Buddha Shakyamuni and Maitreya, Ancient Region of Gandhara, circa 140-150 CE.










Today's News

March 28, 2023

His 'soft white cube' is conquering TriBeCa

New and rarely seen earlier works by Carsten Höller on view at Gagosian

Early Gandharan Buddhist art exhibition at Bonhams Hong Kong

Middle Finger, Ai Weiwei's new interactive online work surpasses 10,000 global submissions in first week

mumok opens Adam Pendleton's first comprehensive solo exhibition in Europe

The Gropius Bau opens the most comprehensive show in Europe to date of Daniel Boyd's work

Exhibition brings together a dozen site-specific desert installations by Olafur Eliasson

IMMA opens Scene of the Myth, a major solo exhibition by artist Sarah Pierce

Tunji Adeniyi-Jones featured in first solo exhibition in Hong Kong at White Cube

National Gallery of Art acquires four drawings by Robert Longo

Sarah Faux's debut show with Hales New York 'Sweetbitter' is on view

Charmion von Wiegand at Kunstmuseum Basel

Art Basel concludes a resonant 2023 edition in Hong Kong

Over 40,000 visitors received through the five-day fair during Art Central

Miles McEnery Gallery opened exhibtion on work by Kevin Appel

Canadian banknote boosts Heritage Auctions's world paper money event

"Beirut and the Golden Sixties" opens at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha

Review: The many thrilling flavors of a full-scale 'Sweeney Todd'

Scott Johnson, playfully inventive composer, is dead at 70

Review: In Chicago, an opera triptych reaches for connection

Longtime Morse Museum Director, Laurence J. Ruggiero, has passed away

The Role of Automation In Reducing ATM Frauds

The Significance of Visual AI In Native Mobile App Testing

THE EXTRAORDINARIES Group Exhibition Opens in Brooklyn

Boosting Your Hair Health Naturally

The Evolution of Interactive Installations: A Look into Jing Dong's Artistic Practice

Mostbet: features and advantages of the bookmaker

What Are The Best Laptops For Lawyers?

Embracing Artistic Diversity at the 2023 Shanghai Fashion Week: A Fusion of Fashion, Culture, and History

How does torrenting work?

What to Expect When Taking Traffic School Online: A Step-by-Step Guide

10 Creative Ways to Use Roses in Your Proposal

Different types of printing: A complete guide




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Attorneys
Truck Accident Attorneys
Accident Attorneys
Houston Dentist
Abogado de accidentes
สล็อต
สล็อตเว็บตรง
Motorcycle Accident Lawyer

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site Parroquia Natividad del Señor
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful