A Brassy Kushan "Buddha" Coin The name "Boddo" by the standing haloed Buddha. The verso featuring...

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Boddo Early depictions of the Buddah Carol Lynne Tombers The Blake School Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA July 2011

Transcript of A Brassy Kushan "Buddha" Coin The name "Boddo" by the standing haloed Buddha. The verso featuring...

Page 1: A Brassy Kushan "Buddha" Coin The name "Boddo" by the standing haloed Buddha. The verso featuring the standing figure of Kanishka I (circa 128-154 AD).

BoddoEarly depictions of the Buddah

Carol Lynne TombersThe Blake School

Minneapolis, Minnesota, USAJuly 2011

Page 2: A Brassy Kushan "Buddha" Coin The name "Boddo" by the standing haloed Buddha. The verso featuring the standing figure of Kanishka I (circa 128-154 AD).

A Brassy Kushan "Buddha" Coin The name "Boddo" by the standing haloed Buddha.

The verso featuring the standing figure of Kanishka I (circa 128-154 AD).Diameter - 2.1 cm.

Page 3: A Brassy Kushan "Buddha" Coin The name "Boddo" by the standing haloed Buddha. The verso featuring the standing figure of Kanishka I (circa 128-154 AD).

What do the Kushans have to do with Buddhism?

Ku·shan

noun /ˈko7oˌSHän/ Kushan, plural; Kushans, plural

A member of an Iranian dynasty that invaded the Indian subcontinent and established a powerful empire in the northwest between the 1st and 3rd centuries ad

The Kushan Empire originally formed in the 1st century CE in the territories of ancient Bactria on either side of the middle course of the Oxus River or Amu Darya in what is now northern Afghanistan, and southern Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kushan

Page 4: A Brassy Kushan "Buddha" Coin The name "Boddo" by the standing haloed Buddha. The verso featuring the standing figure of Kanishka I (circa 128-154 AD).

A Gold Kushan 1/4 Stater/Dinar Coin Featuring a Standing Haloed Buddha The name "Boddo" by the standing Buddha. The verso featuring the

standing figure of Kanishka (128-154 AD). Diameter - cm. Weight: approx 1.8 gm.

Page 5: A Brassy Kushan "Buddha" Coin The name "Boddo" by the standing haloed Buddha. The verso featuring the standing figure of Kanishka I (circa 128-154 AD).

Who is Kanishka (128-154 AD)

Page 6: A Brassy Kushan "Buddha" Coin The name "Boddo" by the standing haloed Buddha. The verso featuring the standing figure of Kanishka I (circa 128-154 AD).

Very Early Metal Gandhara, Seated Haloed Buddha Made from high zinc alloy. Sand-cast in two adjoined parts.

From the Gandhara region, Pakistan. Circa 2nd century AD, or earlier. Height: 5.5 cm

Page 7: A Brassy Kushan "Buddha" Coin The name "Boddo" by the standing haloed Buddha. The verso featuring the standing figure of Kanishka I (circa 128-154 AD).

Small Bronze Seated Buddha, Both Hands In The "Wheel Of Law" Gesture The Buddha is seated in the full lotus (padmasana) posture, the robe draped over the left shoulder and leaving the right shoulder bare. Hands are brought together at the chest in the dharmachakra ("Wheel of Buddhist Law") gesture and a circular aureole is behind the Buddha’s head. Green and

brown patina overall.From Gandhara region, Pakistan. Circa 2nd/3rd century AD, or earlier.

Dimensions: Height: 6.2 cm. Width: 3.6 cm.

Page 8: A Brassy Kushan "Buddha" Coin The name "Boddo" by the standing haloed Buddha. The verso featuring the standing figure of Kanishka I (circa 128-154 AD).

Bronze Buddha or Bodhisattva, Seated in "Western" Manner The Buddha or Bodhisattva is seated in a "Western" posture on a chair or throne with a double

lotus base, a circular aureole behind his head. Both legs are crossed at the ankles. The right hand is raised in blessing, the left hand holds the edge of the robe. Flat-cast in high relief. Gandhara

region, Pakistan, circa 3rd/4th century AD.Height: 12.0 cm. Width: 6.5 cm. Thickness: 3.3 cm.

Page 9: A Brassy Kushan "Buddha" Coin The name "Boddo" by the standing haloed Buddha. The verso featuring the standing figure of Kanishka I (circa 128-154 AD).

Seated Buddha Sakyamuni, on Double Lotus Podium Bronze, hollow-cast by the lost wax process. Eyes with traces of silver inlay. The surface with much cold-gold remaining - a most unusual feature. The Buddha sits in full lotus posture upon a high double lotus podium or throne, pinched at

the junction of the upward and downward-turned lotuses. The Buddha looks forward, with both eyes open, the earlobes distended, the hair in knobbed sections, an urna mark at his brow. His robes are draped over both shoulders,

his right hand raised with palm facing outwards in blessing, the left hand held up and with fist clenched to hold the edge of the robe. There is a protruding tang at the back, for attaching an aureole.

Gandhara culture, probably Swat region, Pakistan. Circa 5th century AD, or perhaps earlier. Height: 13.5 cm. Width at base: 8.0 cm.

Page 10: A Brassy Kushan "Buddha" Coin The name "Boddo" by the standing haloed Buddha. The verso featuring the standing figure of Kanishka I (circa 128-154 AD).

Seven Copper Kushan Tetradrachm "Buddha" Coins The name "Boddo" by the standing haloed Buddha.

The verso featuring the standing figure of Kanishka I (circa 128-154 AD).Diameter - 2.6 cm. (each)

Weight of each: approx. 16.25 gm.

Page 11: A Brassy Kushan "Buddha" Coin The name "Boddo" by the standing haloed Buddha. The verso featuring the standing figure of Kanishka I (circa 128-154 AD).

Coppery-Bronze Seal of a Seated Buddha on a Throne The Buddha is depicted seated on a lotus throne, looking frontally, the draped robes covering both shoulders and the folds near

symmetrical in the Uddiyana manner. Both hands are brought together in the lap in the samadhi position and a large circular aureole is positioned behind the head.

The Buddha has hair piled high in the style of the famed "Apollo Belvedere" statue. The ears are defined but the lobes only moderately elongated. The throne has what looks like birds flanking a structural support for the double lotus seat. The verso

features a large looped handle.The name "Boddo" in Greek letters to one side. Dimensions: 3.5 X 2.2 cm. Swat region/Gandhara, Pakistan. Circa 1st century AD,

or possibly earlier.

Page 12: A Brassy Kushan "Buddha" Coin The name "Boddo" by the standing haloed Buddha. The verso featuring the standing figure of Kanishka I (circa 128-154 AD).

Gold Cup from Gandhara Scenes of Maya Devi giving birth to the Buddha (who emerges from her right side) and the

bathing of the baby BuddhaGandhara-culture of Pakistan, circa late 1st to early 2nd century AD, or earlier.

Dimensions: Height - 14 cm. (5.5 inches). Width at top - 9.4 cm. Weight: 180 grams

Page 13: A Brassy Kushan "Buddha" Coin The name "Boddo" by the standing haloed Buddha. The verso featuring the standing figure of Kanishka I (circa 128-154 AD).

Silver Drinking Cup with Narrative Buddha Birth-Story A tall drinking cup decorated in high relief with narrative scenes of the Buddha’s miraculous birth and early life events;

his mother, Queen Mayadevi, supporting herself with the branches of a tree as she gives birth – the baby Buddha coming out of her side; Vajrapani with gods and attendants lustoring/bathing the Baby Buddha while he stands on a three-legged stool; the pensive Buddha as a Bodhisattva; royals and noblemen paying obeisance. Hammered silver,

the scenes raised in high relief. Gandhara-culture, circa late 1st to early 2nd century AD.Height: 16 cm. (6.3 inches).

Page 14: A Brassy Kushan "Buddha" Coin The name "Boddo" by the standing haloed Buddha. The verso featuring the standing figure of Kanishka I (circa 128-154 AD).

Repousee Copper Gilt Buddha on Lotus Knob Perhaps the hub of a ceremonial parasolGandhara culture, Pakistan, circa 1st/2nd century AD, or earlier.

Height of Lotus Knob with Buddha on top: 7.5 cm. Diameter of Lotus: 17.7 cm. Dimensions of Lotus Knob:

Height: 12.0 cm. Width: 11.8 cm.Dimensions of the Buddha: Height: 10.0 cm. Width: 7.2 cm.

Page 15: A Brassy Kushan "Buddha" Coin The name "Boddo" by the standing haloed Buddha. The verso featuring the standing figure of Kanishka I (circa 128-154 AD).

Standing Gandhara Buddha Sakyamuni Coppery bronze. Solid cast.The Buddha stands frontally, feet apart, on the interior of a lotus, the petals pointing upwards all around and another

tier splaying outwards as if the lotus is in process of opening. The features are in the Indo-Greek manner, the hair pulled back at either side of the temple and piled up into an ushnisha. A raised urna mark is at the center of the

forehead, the eyes are almond-shaped and with heavy lids. The robes are draped over both shoulders, forming layers of wide pleats from the chest to the knees. The right hand is raised in the fear-not gesture, the left hand is extended

downwards and holds the edge of the robe. The verso is plain, save for a protrusion to hold an aureole. The surface has a whiteish burial-related patina.

Swat, Gandhara-culture, Pakistan. Circa late 2nd to early 3rd century AD. Height: 24.2 cm. (9.6 inches).