Gandhāra
Naturalistic Style
Schist
25 x 14 x 15 cm HDW
Acq. No. 100.005.0004

State of conservation: The lobe of the left ear is more; the chin and the lobe of the right ear are slightly chipped. The back reveals thin chisel grooves, mostly vertical, some diagonal.

The head is oval, the wavy hair is drawn back in locks of varying relief which curve in crescents on each side, forming a pointed oval above the peak and continuing into the uṣṇīṣa which is secured at its base by a thin band. The face is fleshy, the ūrṇā in relief on the forehead, the eyebrows distinct arched edges above the high convex slope of the half-closed eyes, continuing on the bridge of the nose; the upper lids of the horizontal eyes show sharp edges over round eyeballs. The nose has a slightly down turned tip. The mouth shows a narrow upper lip and a full lower lip. The chin is full and prominent. The ears are set close to the head.

Stylistically, this beautiful head is very similar to No. 240 in the Peshawar Museum, from Sahri Bahlol[1]and may well come from the same site.

Anna-Maria Quagliotti (1946–2016)

[1] Peshawar Museum, Acq. No. 240, publ.: Ingholt 1957: no. 223.

Catalogue _ Museum DKM: Linien stiller Schönheit