A SCHIST FIGURE OF BUDDHAANCIENT REGION OF GANDHARA, 3RD/4TH CENTURY 31 3/4 in. (80.7 cm) high 犍陀羅 三/四世紀 片岩佛陀像 By the beginning of the 3rd century, the focus on narrative panels in Gandharan art shifted to iconic statues of Buddha and bodhisattvas in line with the growing of institutionalization of Mahayana Buddhism in the region. Depicting Buddha Shakyamuni, the present lot is one such devotional icons. Finely modeled in the classic Gandharan style, the enlightened one offers his worpers apassionate yet determined expression. His left hand would have held the edge of his robe, while his right would have offered a gesture of reassurance abhaya mudra . Drawing on Greco-Roman sculptural traditions, the sculptor emphasized the naturalism of Buddha's heavy monastic robe, which wraps around his neck in thick layers and forms U-shaped folds on his legs with a convincing sense of gravity. His hair is also impeccably carved, with wavy locks radiating from the center of the hairline. The underskirt that would have wrapped around Buddha's waist, visible around his ankles below the bottom edge of his robe, is equally well rendered. The sculpture is closely related to another Standing Buddha with a corresponding treatment of the hair in front of a large, plain halo, and stylized flower motif below his feet, preserved at the Penn Museum, Philadelphia (29-68-1). It alsopares favorably to a smaller yet stylistically similar figure sold at , New York, 19 March 2019, lot 881. Provenance: Horst Werner Bucholz (1933-2003), Berlin, acquired by 1963 Private German Collection, appraised by Spink & Son, Zurich, L.T.D., 14 May 1974 Galerie de Rhone, 2 June 2007, lot 146 Private Collection, Switzerland The sculpture was acquired by German actor Horst Werner Bucholz during the filming of Nine Hours to Rama (1963) in which he played the lead. Bucholz also played Chico in The Magnificent Seven (1960).