125. STATUETTE D'AVALOKITESHVARA EN ALLIAGE DE CUIVRE VALLÉE DE SWAT, VIIE/VIIIE SIÈCLE Himalayan Art Resources item no. 1446 10.5 cm (4 1/8 in.) high A COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF AVALOKITESHVARA SWAT VALLEY, 7TH/8TH CENTURY 斯瓦特 七/八世紀 觀音銅像 Located in the foothills of the Hindu Kush mountains in modern-day Pakistan, the Swat Valley became a haven for monastic communities fleeing from invading Huns and their persecution of Buddhism in ancient Gandhara during the 5th century. Buddhist bronzes from Swat therefore constitute an important artistic and religious link between the former Gandharan civilization, the Gupta period of Northern India, and the rising states of Kashmir, Gilgit, and Western Tibet. Although much of the Greco-Roman realism that informed Gandharan art is lost here, the confident posture, downcast expression, and pleated lower garment recall some of Gandharan art's key idioms, as well as those from the Gupta period of North India (4th-6th centuries). Several stylistic features of the present sculpture are consistent with other early Swat Valley images attributed to the 7th century. Two other Swat figures of similar quality depicting the same deity can be found in the Cleveland Museum of Art (1971.20), and in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (EA1997.250). Furthermore, Avalokiteshvara's tripartite crown and dark, lustrous patina with green and reddish hues are comparable in appearance to a bronze Maitreya from the Pan-Asian Collection, sold at Christie's, New York, 21 September 2007, lot 229. Published: John Siudmak, Indian and Himalayan Sculpture and Thangkas from the Late Simon Digby Collection, 2011, no. 24. Provenance: Sotheby's, London, 24 April 1990, lot 45 Simon Digby Collection John Siudmak, London, 2011 Private European Collection