Gandhara’s geographical position, situated between the Persian world to the west and the Indian to the east, ensured that it was open to a wide variety of artistic influences. Often described as a ‘cultural melting pot,’ its strategic importance left it vulnerable to attack. Briefly in the hands of Alexander the Great between 327 -326 B.C., Greek artistic conventions long played an important role in local production. However whilst Gandhara clearly came under the influence of an extraordinary wide range of outside influences, it was also an exporter of ideas. This is most apparent in relation to the spread of Buddhism from India into other parts of Asia. Gandharan monks and scribes were particularly active in areas of China. According to tradition Buddhism was first introduced into the Gandharan region under the patronage of Asoka, emperor of the Mauryan dynasty, in the third century B.C. The first significant physical remains to survive, including stupas and figurative sculpture, date from the first century B.C. Between c.100-400 A.D. sculptors working in schist, terracotta and stucco produced an astonishing number and variety of Buddhist images.

Maitreya is the Buddha of the next age, much as Shakyamuni is the Buddha of our age. He resides in Tushita heaven waiting for his final rebirth. Seated in dhyanasana on a pedestal, with his hands folded in his lap and holding the pendant sacred water flask, Maitreya wears a robe draped across the shoulder and gathered in cascading folds around his ankles, as well as beaded necklaces, armbands, and hairdresses. His halo clearly demarks his deified status. Similar Gandharan seated Maitreya figures can be found in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (20.58.15) and Christie’s (Sale 2461, Lot 225, 13 September 2011).