Walking Buddha

700s

Walking Buddha, 700s. India, Kashmir, 8th century. Ivory; overall: 4.8 x 2.8 x 0.6 cm (1 7/8 x 1 1/8 x 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1962.167 Small, delicately carved ivory plaques were set into wooden shrines, carved with architectural motifs. This sculpted plaque would have once flanked a central seated Buddha, with a similar standing or walking Buddha on the opposite side. The pleated garment folds derived from Greco-Roman styles adopted in the ancient region of Gandhara, west of Kashmir, where this sculpture was made.