100-300 AD. Gandharan. A grey schist figure of a seated Buddha. He is depicted wearing a flowing robe and a topknot (ushnisha). There is an urna on his forehead, and he is characterised by his arched brow, heavily lidded, half-closed eyes, a bulbous nose, full lips, rounded chin and large, pendulous ears. He sit atop a square plinth is backed by a circular halo with a vegetal porch. His hands are arranged in his lap, upturned with one hand lying over the other. This is gesture is the Dhyana mudra or the gesture of meditation, of concentration on the Good law, and of the attainment of spiritual perfection. Gandhara was an ancient region in the Peshawar basin in the north-west of the ancient Indian subcontinent (modern north-west Pakistan and South-east Afghanistan). The Kushan period (c. 75-451 AD) of Gandharan art, to which this figure belongs, was the golden age of artistic production in the area. For further information on Gandharan art, see Jongeward, D. 2019, Buddhist Art Of Gandhara in the Ashmolean Museum. Oxford, Oxford University Press. Good condition; some repairs; on a custom stand.Size: L:534mm / W:330mm ; 9.35kg; Provenance; Property of a Central London gallery, obtained from a private London collection (M.A); formerly acquired on the UK art market in the 1970s and 80s.