Khotanese Maitreya head

There’s a beautiful Khotanese Buddha (or bodhisattva) piece at the Tokyo Museum, presumably from one of the Otani expeditions, dated to the 3rd-4th century. If that dating is accurate, it would be very old, especially for a metal work. I don’t recognize it as similar to anything I know about from Khotan.

Head_of_Buddha

 

The cord around the topknot is distinctive: it looks like Gandharan bodhisattva hairdos to me, perhaps representing Maitreya. The urna with the eight (presumably) jewels is likewise distinctive. More than anything, to me it looks like someone’s portrait, with the prominent nose and the jutting chin.