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Silk Road Collection
Central Asia

Head of the Buddha Statue

  • Central Asia
  • Swat, Pakistan
  • from the 2nd to the 3rd centuries AD
  • The Kushan Dynasty
  • grey schist
  • 37.0cm in height

A typical Buddha head statue of Gandhara. The hair is wavy, and the rahotsustyle hair of spiral shell-like curls appears later in the era. Between the eyebrows was an Urna represented by an inlaid precious stone. One of the 32 physical features of the Buddha, Choji-daso, is expressed by the groove in the big elongated earlobes. The hole shows that it had worn earrings, and its size indicates wealth and good birth.