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Head of the Buddha
(India, Nepal, and Tibet)
Carved from the mottled red sandstone of the Mathura region in north-central India, this sculpture displays a number of the auspicious marks ("lakshanas") of a Buddha. A cranial protuberance, called an ushnisha, marks the top of his head, and a whorl of hair, called an urna, rests between his eyebrows. Both features are associated with the Buddha’s wisdom and radiance. His elongated earlobes have been stretched by jewelry worn during his life as a prince but renounced in the pursuit of enlightenment. The snail-shell curls that later became standard for Buddha images, however, are not seen here. Instead, this Buddha’s hair is represented as a series of lines, perhaps an adaptation of the wavy hair seen in Buddha images produced during the same period in the region of Gandhara (in present-day Pakistan).
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
Carole L. Brewster, Owings Mills, Maryland [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Gallery, 1986, by gift.
Conservation
| Date | Description | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| 10/26/1990 | Treatment | other |
Geographies
India, Mathura (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H with base: 12 1/4 × W: 7 × D: 6 1/2 in. (31.1 × 17.8 × 16.5 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Carole L. Brewster, 1986
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
25.85