Pakistan claims up-for-auction Buddha statue
September 19th, 2011 - 3:53 pm ICT by IANSIslamabad, Sep 19 (IANS) Pakistan has staked claim to a Buddha statue that was put up for auction by Christie’s. The auction has been stopped following the claim.
The starting price for the statue had been set at $4.45 million.
Dawn reported that following Unesco’s intervention, the auction was stopped and Pakistan has been asked to prove its claim.
The statue’s auction was noticed by a Paris-based Unesco official who raised an alarm, said sources.
An advertisement described the grey schist figure of the emaciated Siddhartha, or ‘Fasting Buddha’, as the most fascinating 3rd/4th century Gandhara piece in Christie’s entire collection.
A private collector who acquired it in Germany in 1981 had given it to Christie.
An official at Pakistan’s Department of Archaeology and Museums (DOAM) said the country’s cultural property was excavated illegally from Buddhist sites in the Gandhara region and smuggled out in the early 1980s.
- Kushinagar monks complain about poor maintenance of old Buddha statue - Mar 03, 2011
- It's official: Peshawar is the 'Oldest Living City' in South Asia - Jul 05, 2010
- Pak's archaeological assets under severe threat from ever expanding militancy - Dec 27, 2009
- Pakistan puts Buddhist tourism back on track - Mar 30, 2010
- Once a hub of Buddhism, Pak today bereft of even relics of Gandhara civilization - Aug 18, 2009
- A mound like structure made of empty cartridges attracts tourists in Bodhgaya - Jul 24, 2010
- 'Buddhas of Bamiyan' may be restored - Mar 02, 2011
- Buddha's home Kapilavastu lies in dire neglect (Lead) - Feb 17, 2011
- 5000-year-old Buddha statues being smuggled to China seized in Pakistan - Dec 20, 2008
- Collection of classical Indian, Asian art creates record - Mar 21, 2012
- Buddhist relics to be housed in Orissa museum - Apr 25, 2011
- Ancient site in Pakistan found, lost and found again - Aug 25, 2011
- UN-backed project to conserve Buddha's birthplace underway - Jan 12, 2011
- Afghanistan's historic Bamiyan Buddhas won't be rebuilt: UNESCO - Mar 12, 2011
- Like Nalanda, Vikramshila may rise from ruins - Jan 24, 2012
Tags: 1980s, 4th century, advertisement, archaeology, auction, buddha, buddha statue, buddhist, christie, dawn, entire collection, gandhara region, islamabad, museums, pakistan, paris, private collector, siddhartha, unesco, unesco official