Osmund Bopearachchi, When West Met East, Gandhāran Art Revisited, New Delhi: Manohar Publications, 2020,Volume I, p.145, Volumne II, pp.369-370

The Buddha Śākyamuni stands on a pedestal composed of two convex sections, with the upper portion featuring rows of large and small, upright lotus petals, and the lower section displaying a similar petal motif pointing downwards. Unlike many sculptures from the Gupta era, the ūrnā, the sacred symbol of enlightenment is delineated. This is considered one of the most complete images of the Gupta period documented thus far.

The most striking element is the highly decorated halo attached to the back of the Buddha's head with a pin. This halo is composed of nine fully-blown, stylized lotus flowers, with seven depicted entirely and two partially obscured by the head. The flower motif consists of six large petals interspersed with six smaller petals. A close parallel to this halo decoration can be found on a large-scale terracotta relief of a Buddha in dhyanamudrā, a meditation pose unearthed from the collapsed remains of a stūpa at Kahu-jo-daro in Sind, Pakistan, which is now housed in the Victoria and Albert Museum (http://collections. vam.ac.uk/item/0168373/relief-panel-unknown/).

The slim and graceful body of the Buddha is draped in a diaphanous samghāti, or monastic robe that clings to the figure while flaring out considerably on either side, covering both shoulders with a wide, semicircular neckline. The clear delineation of the folds of the robe follows the Mathurā artistic tradition. The Buddha stands frontally, making the abhayamudrā, a gesture of fearlessness with the raised right hand and gently holding the edge of the samghāti with the left. The antaravāsaka, inner robe is depicted above the ankles and below the samghāti, and the earlobes are elongated, as is characteristic of images of the Buddha. The locks of the hair are treated in curls.

This bronze statuette can be assigned to the late sixth or early seventh century, a period when the tradition of creating standing Buddha images in metal continued, even as the production of large-scale stone sculptures had declined following the fall of the Kushan Empire in Gandhāra and North-West India. Such smaller bronze sculptures were likely used for personal veneration by Buddhist monks.

This piece was published in Osmund Bopearachchi's books "When West Met East, Gandhāran Art Revisited Volume I and Volume II" (Manohar Publications, New Delhi). It is cataloged as Cat. No. 157 in these volumes (Volume I p.145 and Volume II p.369-370). Additionally, a similar piece can be found in Volume I, p.144 (Cat. No. 156).