A GREY SCHIST RELIEF FRAGMENT OF HARITI AND PANCHIKA
PROPERTY FROM THE MOITA COLLECTION OF GANDHARA ART
Ancient region of Gandhara, 2nd - 3rd century

Of square shape, the fragment carved with a seated couple, most probably Hariti and Panchika, respectively the Goddess of Fertility and the God of Wealth, the male character holding a tall sceptre, his female counterpart with a tall leafy branch or flower stem, possibly a metaphorical reference to Greco-Roman cornucopias, both seated on a high throne, elegantly clad and heavily bejewelled, mounted on a wooden base, 10.5cm x 12cm including the base.

The seated pair of Hariti and Panchika is a well-represented Leitmotif in Gandharan sculptural and architectural reliefs. Panels like this show how Pre-Buddhist gods and semi-divine beings were almost effortlessly incorporated and amalgamated into Buddhist devotional imagery and artistic voabulary. Museums all over the world vaunt at least one relief with this scene (Isao Kurita, Ancient Buddhist Art Series: Gandharan Art Part 1 and 2, Japan, 2003, cat. 499; Osmund Bopearachchi, De l'Indus a l'Oxus: Archeologie de l'Asie Centrale, 2003, cat. 227). A similar relief was sold at Christie's New York, 20 March 2009, lot 132.