Buckle with the Gods Hariti and Pancika, 4th century. Gold repousse, Taxila (?), Punjab, Pakistan, Kushan period
Height: 3.6 cm
Width: 4.4 cm
“This repousse plaque was formed by hammering over a die, then neatly joined with solder to a plain backing sheet. The cracked and damaged back has two attached tangs and is partly repaired in one corner. On the front, within a beaded, rectangular frame, a man and woman are seated on a throne in the royal lalitasana pose, with their torsos facing forwards and their heads slightly turned towards each other. Their features are now worn and not easily distinguishable, but appear to have been depicted with round faces and wide-open eyes. A halo indicates the divine status of each figure, while the floating ribbon issuing from behind the male head has royal connotations and resembles the Sasanian form also found on coins of the Kushano-Sasanian rulers.
The man is adorned with a torque, bangles and armlets, and is dressed in the same way as Kubera or Panchika figures on schist reliefs in knee-length Kushan boots, a short-sleeved tunic and a Greek chlamys, fastened with a circular fibula on his thigh. His left hand, with the little finger extended, holds a long staff between the index and middle finger.
The long dress of the woman is draped over her right calf so that the foot remains visible, and then falls in a series of folds to completely cover her left leg. She wears large earrings, bangles and armlets. Her crown of juxtaposed half-lotus flowers resembles those worn by Bodhisattva of the fouth century AD and later at Hadda. In her right hand she holds a long stemmed lotus and in her left a cornucopia.
The couple is clearly recognisable as Hariti and Panchika or Kubera, the god of wealth.”