Lot 30. A grey schist relief panel of a bodhisattva making offerings, Ancient region of Gandhara, circa 3rd century; 23cm (9in) x 17.5cm (6 7/8in). (2). Sold for €8,287.50. (Estimate 4 000 € - 6 000 €). Courtesy Bonhams.

Here the scene depicts the prince Siddhartha Gautama embracing his Indian wife Yasodhara on a textile covered platform with their feet resting on stools. Leaning at the foot of the platform to their right is an attendant or the future second mother to the Buddha, Mahaprajapati, holding a fly whisk engaged in a discourse with a figure holding a waterpot and likely to be the Brahmin astrologer Asita, stand.

Provenance: Robert Rousset, Paris (1901-1981)
Jean-Pierre Rousset, Paris (1936-2021).

Note: Carved in fine detail with remains of the original gilded decoration, this panel is likely from the same series of panels as Lot 229 in this catalogue. Three other panels of the related scene of the horoscope of Siddhartha are in the Lahore Museum, see Sun Yinggang and He Ping, Tushuo Jiantuoluo Wenming, Hong Kong, 2020, p.164, the Peshawar Museum (PM_02734), and the Rietberg Museum, Zurich (RVI 11).

Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr Paris. The Robert and Jean-Pierre Rousset Collection of Asian Art: A Century of Collecting - Part 1. Paris, 25 october 2022.