A monumental torso of Shakyamuni Buddha, Ancient region of Gandhara, 3rd / 4th Century

American Private Collection, circa 1995 (by repute).

Offered at Replica Shoes 's New York, 24th September 2004, lot 7.

Stephen Little, 'Images of Buddha from the Michael Phillips Collection', Arts of Asia, vol. 43, no. 1, January-February 2013, pp 102-113, pl. 4.

Gandhara was an ancient region in present-day northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan, and a major center for Buddhist culture and art from around the 1st century BCE to the 5th century CE. Situated on the historic Silk Route, Gandhara, where this piece originated, served as a geographical junction where early elements of the Western classical world intersected with Indian iconography and regional traditions. The impact of Hellenistic art on Gandhara represents an intriguing instance of cultural interplay following Alexander the Great's 4th-century BCE conquests and the ensuing formation of Hellenistic realms in Central Asia. This integration of Greek artistic traditions with indigenous and Buddhist motifs gave rise to the unique style of Gandharan art, prominently visible from the 1st century CE onward. However, it wasn’t until the 2nd century that the first human images of the Buddha (rather than aniconic images such as footprints, riderless horses, and parasols) began to appear. 

The Gandharan Buddhist culture was characterized by its distinctive art style, which combined Greek artistic styles such as a highly realistic depiction of human facial features and expressions, a naturalistic portrayal of the human body, along with detailed treatment of muscles and drapery. This was a major departure from the more stylized and abstracted forms common in earlier Indian art. Sculptures of the historical Shakyamuni Buddha such as the present, for instance, often show him in a robe that closely drapes his body, revealing the form beneath in a manner reminiscent of Greek and Roman statues. The present torso exemplifies this art form and appears to be one of the largest Gandharan torso sculptures preserved outside of Pakistan. Only a small number of Gandharan sculptures would have been larger, including, for instance, the 2.5m standing figure of Buddha in the Miho Museum, illustrated in Catalogue of the Miho Museum, Kyoto, 1997, pl. 72.

Michael Phillips is an Oscar winning producer of films including 'The Sting', 'Taxi Driver' and 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind'. As he explained in the article written on his collection by Stephen Little, 'Images of Buddha from the Michael Phillips Collection', Arts of Asia, vol. 43, no. 1, January-February 2013, p. 102:

'I decided to collect Buddhist art when I discovered I was a terrible meditator. My journey began in the early 1970s when an important delegation of Tibetan Buddhist monks, including the Karmapa, was visiting Los Angeles. I was asked by a film director friend if I would host an event at my home where the Karmapa would be participating in some interactive exercises with a group of actors. The experience awakened an interest in me in these unusual men and their Tibetan Buddhist teachings. As part of my new interest I became drawn to Buddhist art'.