Provenance Information

Reportedly in the Rubin Collection before 1982; Collection of Jeffrey B. Soref from at least 1982 to 2015; Gift of Jeff Soref and Paul Lombardi to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2015.

Exhibition Information

The work was exhibited at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1982 in the exhibition Along the Ancient Silk Roads.

Publication Information

U. Von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, Visual Dharma Publications, 1981, p. 79, pl. 3D.

Section of the AAMD Guidelines relied upon for the exception to 1970

Cumulative facts and circumstances

Explain why the object fits the exception set forth above

The work has provenance established to 1981 when it was published in Von Schroeder as from a “Private Collection, photo courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.” The work was exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum in 1982. A diminutive image of a Buddha in meditation, on a lotus petal waisted pedestal, framed by a pearl-bordered aureole. The distinctive folds of the upper robe, pleated with V-front in a style familiar from late Kushan stone versions of this subject, points to an early date for Gandharan metal imagery, perhaps 4th century. The early date assigned to this work adds to its significance. The Museum has the premier collection of Gandharan art in the United States, including a uniquely important early bronze seated Buddha and bronze reliquary. This finial depiction of the Buddha lies in direct descent from such early works, and allows the Metropolitan Museum to demonstrate to the public the way in which early Buddha imagery evolved over these early centuries.