Possibly Hadda, Afghanistan
Late fourth to mid-fifth century CE
Stucco; 23.6 x 15.8 x 14.1 cm
(9-5/16 x 6-3/16 x 5-9/16 in.)
Ackland Fund, 90.23
Provenance: Acquired 16 April 1990 from Greater Indian Company, Inc. (T. McInerney).

Stucco was a popular medium at sites such as Hadda in present-day Afghanistan. Because of the fragility of the material, stucco was laid over a stronger base of sand or clay. A length of wood or plaited straw attached the head to the body. Molds were used to create heads that were then adorned with hair, and other details were worked in fresh stucco, a technique that allowed for remarkable flexibility and a great variety of facial expressions.1 The reliefs were often painted, enhancing the expressiveness of the face.

The heavy-lidded eyes indicate an inward focus. The prominent nostrils and partially open mouth, revealing teeth and the tip of the tongue, suggest breathing techniques associated with meditation. Such yogic practices hint at the internal journeys and the concerted quest for spirituality in early South Asia. He probably represents a lay patron figure as part of a larger tableau, perhaps one describing a range of devotional practices.

Buddhists seem to have been active in Hadda by the second century CE, and the Chinese pilgrim Fa-hsien (ca. 400 CE) reported on flourishing Buddhist monasteries in the region.2 The stucco head probably adorned a stupa, or a smaller shrine with niches in a stupa court in such a monastery (Figs. 1, 2, 29). It probably belonged with many other vividly painted figures, creating a highly dramatic space. The individualization of the withdrawn face helps us place the object at the end of Buddhist prosperity in Gandhara, when a less austere aesthetic developed, perhaps facilitated by the malleable, yet fragile, medium of stucco. PG

1 Madeleine Hallade, Gandharan Art of North India: and the Graeco-Buddhist Tradition in India, Persia, and Central Asia (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1968), 139.
2On sculptural production at Hadda, see Z. Tarzi, “Hadda a la lumiere des trois dernieres campagnes de fouilles de Tapa-é-Shotor (1974-1976).” Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, comptes rendus de séances de l’année (1976): 381-410.