STATUE DE MAITREYA EN ALLIAGE DE CUIVRE VALLÉE DE SWAT, CIRCA VIIE SIÈCLESTATUE DE MAITREYA EN ALLIAGE DE CUIVREVALLÉE DE SWAT, CIRCA VIIE SIÈCLEHimalayan Art Resources item no. 4861 19.8 cm (7 3/4 in.) high A COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF MAITREYA SWAT VALLEY, CIRCA 7TH CENTURY 斯瓦特 約七世紀 彌勒菩薩銅像 Published: Arman Neven, Sculpture de Indes, Brussels, 1978, p. 73, no. 31. Ulrich von Schroder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, p. 92, no. 10A. Jan van Alphen, Cast for Eternity, Antwerp, 2003, p. 73, no. 15. Exhibited: Sculpture des Indes, Société Générale de Banque, Brussels, 8 December 1978 - 31 January 1979. Cast for Eternity, Antwerp Ethnographic Museum, Belgium, 12 April 2005 - 26 June 2005. Provenance: With Claude de Marteau, Brussels, by 1970s One of Claude de Marteau's prized possessions for over forty years, this important and handsome Maitreya figure exhibits some of the finer characteristics of sculpture from the Swat Valley, inviting comparison with a well-known and highly regarded Maitreya in the British Museum (Pal, Bronzes of Kashmir, 1975, pp. 200-1; von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, 1981, no. 11D). Both figures sit regally on a lion throne, holding an emblematic flask (kamandalu) between long, delicate fingers. The confidence and skill of the creator of the present sculpture are clear from the inherent vitality possessed by the youthful figure, whose torso is muscular and supple, as sumptuous as the lotus base's swollen petals. The verdant valley of Swat, located in modern-day Pakistan, fell within the cultural boundaries of Ancient Gandhara's Buddhist civilization. Hundreds of monastic sites were established in Swat before the 2nd century CE. Secluded within the lush foothills of the Hindu Kush mountains, Swat later served as a crucial bastion for Buddhism as political and economic stability diminished in Gandhara Proper due to the dissolution of the Kushan Empire and recurring Hun raids. As a result, a small but exciting school of Buddhist sculpture flourished in Swat between the 6th and 10th centuries, incorporating artistic elements from the various empires that controlled portions of the broader region over time. The intriguing cosmopolitan aesthetic of Swat bronzes is reflected in this Maitreya. While much of the Gandharan taste for Greco-Roman realism is lost, the long hair, commanding posture, and pleated vestiture still arguably harken back to some of Gandharan art's key idioms. Meanwhile, the Swat craftsman responsible for this bronze probably drew extensively from the art of the Gupta period (4th-6th century), considered the Golden Age of Indian art, which here informed the fleshy physiognomy, large-beaded necklace, bare chest, floral-medallion armbands, slender waist, lightweight lower garment, and broad unfurling lotus petals. These features are represented in Gupta sandstone sculptures of Avalokiteshvara in the National Museum, New Delhi (Pal, The Ideal Image, 1978, p. 20, fig. 4), and Vishnu in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (17.1015). Remarkably, the origins of the strips of cloth hanging from his crown behind the ears can be traced to the Sasanian Empire (3rd-7th century; see Pal, The Ideal Image, 1978, p. 117).