Description

Indian tribal art

The tribes, practicing the art of Dokra, originated from the Bastar region of South India (today located in the state of Chattisgarh), they emigrated several centuries ago and settled all over India from North to South.

Most of them have kept their traditions (cooking, clothing, festivals) and their animist religion.

Style

The essence of the style dates back to the Gupta period with the characteristic hairstyle made of curls of hair and the unisha at the top: the protrusion on the top of the head resembling a bun is barely visible (see the Buddha of Sarnath). The elongated ears characteristic of this style are not present: the earrings, however, are there contrary to the canons of the classical Buddhist sacred art Gupta (before renouncing palace life and his destiny as a prince, Siddh?rtha Gautama wore the attributes of nobility and wealth, including earrings: the elongated ears thus mark the sign of this previous existence and its renunciation).

The features are well proportioned and the aquiline nose marks the Greek influence on Indian sculpture of this period.

Another notable difference with classical art is the size of the eyebrows, which are very marked here whereas usually a fine line is enough to underline them. Moreover the eyes are slightly oblique (not horizontal) and slightly half-open, whereas the tradition represents them closed.

This statue symbolizes : serenity

Of tribal manufacture, this statue of Buddha's head is imbued with great serenity and simplicity while expressing great originality of design.