A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c16.s4.13

c16.s4.13

‘The lid, which is slightly curved and incised to represent a full-blown lotus, supports three figures in the round; a seated Buddha in the centre, and a Bodhisattva on each side. The edge of the lid is further adorned by a frieze, in low relief, of flying geese bearing wreaths in their beaks; while below, on the body of the vase, is an elaborate design in high relief, of young Erotes bearing a continuous garland, in the undulations of which are seated Buddha-figures and attendant worshippers leaning towards them out of the background. But the chief and central figure on the casket is that of the Emperor Kanishka himself, standing erect with a winged celestial being bearing a wreath on either side. The figure of the Emperor is easily recognizable from his coins, but the identity is further proved by the inscriptions on the casket. These are in Kharoshṭhī and are four in number, punctured in dots in the leaves of the lotus on the top and on the background between the geese and other figures on the sides’ (Plate LXXV, Figs. A and B).