Unknown
Head of a Bodhisattva4th-5th century

On view:

Resnick Pavilion, floor 1

Terracotta or stucco sculptural head with tightly coiled hair and a tall topknot, traces of red and cream pigment, mounted on a wooden pedestal

Artist or Maker: Unknown
Title: Head of a Bodhisattva
Place Made: Afghanistan, Nangarhar Province, Hadda, Gandhara region
Date Made: 4th-5th century
Medium: Stucco with paint
Dimensions: 10 3/4 x 6 1/4 x 5 1/2 in. (27.31 x 15.88 x 13.97 cm)
Credit Line: From the Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection, Museum Associates Purchase
Accession Number: M.80.6.4
Classification: Sculpture
Collecting Area: South and Southeast Asian Art
Curatorial Notes: This head of a Buddhist bodhisattva (one whose essence is goodness) is from Afghanistan, likely from the ancient monastic site of Hadda near Jalalabad where thousands of stucco and clay sculptures executed in Indo-Hellenistic style and painted with brilliant polychrome were recovered. Bodhisattvas, who postpone their final enlightenment to help all sentient beings achieve their own awakening, are portrayed as elegant noblemen or noble women with contemporary Greco-Roman jewelry and clothing conventions.

This fashionably styled head has a fan-shaped topknot fastened by a double band of fabric or twisted cord. Curled rings of hair hang down on the right side of the face. The right ear ornament is in the form of a winged lion. Black and red paint embellish the visage, either by highlighting or outlining the facial features. A characteristic of Gandharan sculpture is that sophisticated anamorphic techniques, typically foreshortening and oblique perspective, are often used to accommodate the intended viewer's perspective. Here, the heavily-lidded pensive eyes gaze in slightly different directions and the sacred forehead marking (urna) is offset from the vertical axis. These distorted figural forms appear correctly oriented when viewed from below and to the side.
Selected Bibliography: Little, Stephen, Tushara Bindu Gude, Karina Romero Blanco, Silvia Seligson, Marco Antonio Karam. Las Huellas de Buda. Ciudad de México : Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, 2018.
Little, Stephen, and Tushara Bindu Gude. Realms of the Dharma: Buddhist Art across Asia. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2025.

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