MALE HEAD Pink sandstone India, Uttar Pradesh
Mathura, ca 2nd c AD
31 cm, (12"1/4)
This remarkable smiling face with heavy lidded eyes and perfectly combed hair is carved in the round and is wearing heavy earrings.
He is also showing an Urna in the middle of his forehead. This symbol is said to be one of the thirty-two characteristics of the Buddha. Even if it is very difficult, without the rest of the body, or other attributes, to identify this character, the urna and the size of the sculpture suggest that it should be the face of a life-size Boddhisatva, or even the portrait of the Buddha Sakyamuni, when He was yet the prince Siddhartha.
Archeological patina
