Bidspirit auction | A GANDHARAN STONE PANEL OF

A GANDHARAN STONE PANEL OF THE BUDDHA PREACHING THE FIRST SERMON, 2ND-4TH CENTURY CE. - This rectangular grey schist relief panel from the ancient Gandhara region depicts the Buddha preaching his First Sermon at Sarnath. The central Buddha is seated in a meditative posture upon a decorated throne, his right hand raised in abhaya mudra, the gesture of fearlessness, and his left hand grasping the folds of his monastic robe or sanghati. The figure is carved with characteristic iconographic markers including a prominent ushnisha, an urna on the forehead, and a large circular halo, surmounted by three stylised canopies. To the Buddha's immediate right stands the figure of Vajrapani, portrayed as a bearded, muscular attendant holding a vajra, exhibiting the Hellenistic influence typical of the Greco-Buddhist style. The central figure is surrounded by a group of ten attendants, comprising shaven-headed monks and lay devotees dressed in ornate turbans and heavy jewellery characteristic of Kushan-era aristocratic fashion. Below the throne, a central Dharmachakra or Wheel of Dharma is mounted on a pedestal, flanked by kneeling devotees and stylised deer. The lower edge of the relief is decorated with a geometric saw-tooth border. Approximately 44.3 x 23cm