Red sandstoneIndia, (185 BC - 220 AC) Uttar Pradesh, Mathura area , Kushan periodDimensions: Height 67 cm by 25 cmWeight: 32.600 gramsSculpture belonging to the "Mathura art" of the Kushan period depicting a nobleman or monarch with the headdress and jewellery typical for that period.The "Mathura art" refers to a particular school of Indian art, which survived almost entirely in the form of sculpture, beginning in the 2nd century BC, and which concentrated near the city of Mathura, in the middle of northern India, at a time when Buddhism, Jainism flourished together with Hinduism in India.Mathura is considered the first artistic centre to produce sculptures for all three religions and was until the Gupta period the centre of the pre-eminent religious artistic expression in India. It was India's most important artistic production centre from the second century BC, with its highly recognisable yellow-speckled red sandstone statues.During the early Buddhist Kushan sculpture the anthropomorphic iconographic shape of the Buddha figure was developed,and for this draw upon the basic concept of "the characteristics of a large and noble being", the "mahapurusha lakshana", whose base is the very old representation of the forest spirit "yaksha",This monarch is therefore depicted as an upright strong figure, holding the end of his robe or dhoti in his left hand and holding a cord (possibly the Hindu "brahmin cord") in his right hand. The sculpture was part of the parapet of a stupa and as such was also sculpted at the rear. The holes on the sides served to connect the sculpture with wooden or stone beams with other sculptures of the parapet.Provenance: The statue was part of a British private collection since 1950 and was acquired by the current seller's family at an auction of Christie's in London in 1985