3rd C. Gandharan Schist Figure - Hariti w/ Children

About Auction

Live

Art of Asia | Antiquity to Present

By Artemis Gallery

Mar 11, 2021

Set Reminder 2021-03-11 12:00:00 2021-03-11 12:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Art of Asia | Antiquity to Present https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/art-of-asia-antiquity-to-present-6497
Featuring antiquities, ancient and works of art ranging from the third millennium BCE to the present from China, Japan, South and Southeast Asia, and Korea. Including jades, bronzes, lacquer, textiles, paintings, prints, sculpture, ceramics, metalwork, and other art forms in other media. Artemis Gallery info@artemisgallery.com

View Full Catalog (171)

• Lot Description
  Ancient Central Asia, Pakistan and Afghanistan, Gandharan Empire, ca. 3rd century CE. A beautiful gray schist carving representing the goddess Hariti, a demoness who was transformed into a benevolent mother-goddess by Buddha himself. Hariti presents seated in a simple throne and wears a flowing gown while feeding an infant held in her left arm at her exposed breast, and two additional children climb near her legs as if to garner her undivided attention. She wears an elaborate necklace that drapes beneath her breasts as well as an ornate pectoral collar and columnar earrings that emphasize her dignified femininity. Her sensitively modeled countenance exhibits narrow, almond-shaped eyes beneath heavy lids, an aquiline nose with delineated nostrils above a smiling mouth, and a sinuous, Mediterranean-style coiffure in front of a spiraling coronal halo. Alexander the Great conquered Gandhara in 330 BCE and with the help of the Indo-Greek kings introduced classical traditions that would influence Gandharan art for the following seven centuries. Size: 9.6" W x 20.2" H (24.4 cm x 51.3 cm)
  
  According to Buddhist mythology, Hariti had hundreds of children whom she adored. However, in order to feed them, she kidnapped and slaughtered other children. The grieving mothers asked Buddha to put an end to Hariti's actions. He abducted her youngest son and hid him under his rice bowl. After a desperate search, Hariti appealed to Buddha, who explained that her suffering was due to the loss of only one of her hundreds of children. He asked her to imagine the immense suffering of the parents who lost their only children. Upon hearing this, Hariti vowed to be a devout protector of children as well as women in childbirth. In return the Buddha gifted her with bodhi which empowered her to counter evil and cure the sick. From that moment on, she ate pomegranates instead of human flesh.
  
  Provenance: private Tucson, Arizona, USA collection; ex-Brunk Auctions, Asheville, North Carolina, USA, purchased in 2002 from a New Orleans, Louisiana, USA auction gallery; ex-Katy Higgins Far Eastern Art, Washington, D.C., USA; exhibited in the Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, Alabama, USA
  
  All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
  
  A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
  
  We ship worldwide and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.
  
  #160562

  Condition

  Repair to areas of right breast and bottom of skirt, with small chips and light adhesive residue along break lines. Chips and losses to areas of feet, children, throne, peripheries, and verso as shown. Softening to some finer details and light encrustations within some recessed areas. Great preservation to figural details throughout.
• Shipping Info

  • All shipping is handled in-house for your convenience. Your invoice from Artemis Gallery will include shipping calculation instructions. If in doubt, please inquire BEFORE bidding for estimated shipping costs for individual items.

• Buyer's Premium
  • 26.50 %