Comes with Certificate of Authenticity Provided with unconditional 1 year return policy:

Superbly carved Authentic Gandharan Graeco-Bactrian Schist relief depicting Buddha dating circa 2nd Century CE (AD). The Buddha is dressed in voluminous robes which fall gracefully in well detailed folds. The hems of his alluring robes are gathered in a soft roll clutched by his left hand to keep the garment taut and in place. The serene face with heavy-lidded downcast eyes below gently arched brows centered by a circular raised urna. Beautiful grey schist is an outstanding example of Greek influence on Buddhist art from the Graeco-Bactrian rule.  (stand is included for convince)

Size:  7.25" H (19 cm)

Condition: A fragment of a larger stone carving. One large and several small pieces on the left side have been reattached, but form is still clear. Some nicks and chips to relief. Lovely earthen deposits throughout.

Provenance:  Comes with Certificate of Authenticity Provided with unconditional 1 year return policy. Further Palmyra Heritage Gallery New York, NY -prior  EX: Private collection; bought via Parisian collection, France 1980s.

The Gandharan Empire made itself wealthy in part by controlling lucrative trade along the mountain passes between China in the East and the Near East and Mediterranean in the West; a great deal of this wealth went into local patronage of artisans and art. In the first century CE, Buddhism became fashionable amongst Gandharan elites, and the art produced at this time depicting the Buddha are some of the most striking Buddhist images from the past. Their artistic tradition also reflects the conquest of Alexander the Great and the introduction of styles from all sides, blended into a uniquely Gandharan tradition, which this Buddha exemplifies. 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.

The Bactrian Kingdom, known to historians as the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom or simply Greco-Bactria, was a Hellenistic-era Greek state and along with the Indo-Greek Kingdom, the easternmost part of the Hellenistic world in Central Asia and the Indian Subcontinent from its founding in 256 BC by Diodotus I Soter to its fall c. 120–100 BC under the reign of Heliocles II. It covered much of present-day Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, and at its zenith, parts of Iran, Pakistan. Bactria was ruled by the Diodotid dynasty and rival Euthydemid dynasty. The capitals of Ai-Khanum and Bactra were among the largest and richest of antiquity - Bactria itself was known as the ‘land of a thousand golden cities’. The Indo-Greek Kingdoms, as Bactrian successor states, would last until 10 AD.