2nd-3rd century AD. A carved schist figure of Atlas crouching with wings partly spread, both hands clasped about his raised right knee; mounted on a custom-made stand. Cf. Jongeward, D., Buddhist Art of Gandhara in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 2018, item 149; see Stanco, L., Greek Gods in the East: Hellenistic Iconographic Schemes in Central Asia, Prague, 2012; Nagar, S., Gandharan Sculpture: A Catalogue of the Collection in the Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Missouri-Columbia, 1981.17.3 kg total, 45cm including stand (17 3/4"). Property of a London collector, acquired early 1990s. The Atlas motif is among a range of imports from Greek and Persian art - caryatids, Ionic columns, drinking scenes, vines, acanthus leaves, Olympian gods and Dionysian revelries - which give Gandharan sculpture its unique flavour. The figure is derived from representation of the Greek myth of Atlas, whose task it was to uphold the sky; his thickset frame and stocky limbs indicate his ability to support any burden. Many examples of the Atlas figure are modelled with hands raised, or with a flattened upper surface to the head where an architectural feature was placed above, but in the present case the figure appears to be resting; it also does not sport the wings found on may other examples.