diptych

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Object Type
Museum number: 1902,1220.176
Description: A leaf in black schist from a diptych depicting on one side a headless seated figure, probably an ascetic and on the other the Assault of Mara in the upper register and in the lower the First Sermon.
Production date: 7thC
Production place: Made in: Gandhara (Pakistan) (?); Made in: Kashmir (?)
Findspot: Excavated/Findspot: Khotan (district) (Xinjiang Province, China)
Materials
Technique
Dimensions: Height: 8.50 centimetres
Curator's comments: Zwalf 1985 Similar leaves of carved stone survive, parts of diptychs, portable folding objects showing scenes from the Buddha's life. The headless figure, hand on chin and seated on a stool above his Brahmin's waterpot, may be the ascetic who predicted the newborn's Buddha destiny; on the reverse panels show, above, the assault of Māra and, below, the First Sermon with the wheel just recognisable below the Buddha. The leaf was found at Khotan, in Central Asia, and is not the only example of this kind of object to have been found outside the Kashmir- Gandhara area of its manufacture.
Bibliographic references
Location: Not on display
Subjects
Associated names
Associated events: Associated Event: First Sermon of the Buddha; Associated Event: Assault of Mara
Acquisition date: 1902
Department: Asia
Registration number: 1902,1220.176

Free entry