Buddha’s sacred jewelry heads to auction

On Wednesday, a cash of the dazzling jewelry related to the mortal remains of Buddha, which are welcomed as one of the most stunning archeological finds from the modern era, will pass under the hammer in Sotbis in Hong Kong.

For more than a century, these relics, discovered by the dusty mound in northern India in 1898, have been largely unprecedented, pressed by a private British collection.

Now, as the gems are preparing to leave the custody of their guardians, they move not only the appetites of collectors, but also some anxiety.

They come from a brilliant storage of nearly 1,800 pearls, rubies, topaz, sapphires and gold sheets with colorful ones, first looked deep into a brick camera near the birthplace of Buddha in modern Uttar Pradesh in India.

Their discovery – along with bone fragments, identified by an inscribed ballot as belonging to the Buddha – resolved throughout the world of archeology. Nikolas Chow, chairman of Asia and the world leader of Asian art of Sotby, believes that it is “among the most unusual archaeological discoveries of all time.”

Still, since these relics are now facing the glare of the auction hall, experts tell the BBC that the question hangs heavy: can the sale of treasures so intimately intertwined in India’s sacred past be considered ethical?

In 1898, William Claxton Pepe, an English estate manager, excavated the Stupa in Pikava, south of Lumbini, where Buddha is thought to have been born. He revealed relics inscribed and illuminated nearly 2000 years ago.

Historians agree that these relics, intact until then, are the inheritance of both the descendants of Buddha Sakia and Buddhists around the world. Since then, bone relics have been widespread in countries such as Thailand, Sri Lanka and Myanmar, where they continue to be worshiped.

“Are Buddha’s petitions that can be treated as a work of art to be sold on the market?” wonders Naron Ahuzha, a historian of art based in Delhi. “And since they are not, how is the seller authorized ethically to trade them?

“Since the seller is called a” guardian “, I would like to ask – a guardian on whose behalf? Does their custody allow them to sell these relics now?”

Chris Pepe, a great-grandson to William, told the BBC that the family was looking at the relics, but all the options presented problems and the auction seemed “the fairest and most transparent way to transfer these Buddhists’ relics.”

Julian King, an international Sotheby specialist and the head of the sale, the Himalayan art, New York told the BBC that the auction house had done a thorough review of jewelry.

“As with all the important items and collectors offered for sale in Sotheby’s, we have conducted the necessary inspection, including in connection with the authenticity and origin, legality and other considerations in accordance with our policies and industrial standards for works and treasures,” King said.

Ashley Thompson of the University of London in Soas and curator Conan Cheong, both experts in the art in Southeast Asia, have more questions. In a joint statement, they said to the BBC: “Other ethical questions raised from the sale are: Do human remains have to be traded?

The sale of relics also caused concern among Buddhist leaders.

“Buddha teaches us not to accept the possessions of other people without permission,” Amal Abewadin of British Society of Mahabodhi, based in London, told the BBC. “Historical records show that the Sakyamuni clan has received custody of these relics, as the Buddha is broadcast by their community. Their desire is to preserve these relics with decorations, such as these gems so that they can be honored by the followers of Buddha.”

Chris Pepe has writtenly That the jewelry passed from his great-grand to his cousin, and in 2013 he came to him and two other cousins. Then he began to explore their discovery from his great -grandfather.

Los Angeles -based television director and film editor wrote that he had discovered reports on newspapers from 1898 – from Reuters to New York Tribun – announcing the find of Buddha’s remains.

“The colonization of India by the British was the source of some cultural shame for me (and continues to be), but against the backdrop of treasure hunters who returned their finds back to England, there were also people focused on pursuing knowledge,” Chris Pepe writes.

He noted that his research revealed a lot about his ancestors, which he rejected as “prejudice Victorians of the past era.”

“I learned that Willie Pepe’s first wife chose to travel in India for her honeymoon and loved the country and his culture. Unfortunately, she died of an unspecified disease. I learned that my grandmother was outraged by the laws of land that apply to Indian women.

“And I learned that the excavations of the stupa were Willie Pepe’s attempt to provide work for his farmers who had been the victim of the hunger of 1897.”

He writes “the technical diagrams of ramps and washers of great -grandfather, suggest that he is also a trained engineer who cannot resist a project.”

William Pepe betrayed the precious stones, relics and relics to the colonial Indian government: the bone relics went to the Buddhist King of Siam (Rama V). Five relics, a stone chest and most other relics were sent to the Indian Museum in Kolka – then the Imperial Museum of Calcutta.

Only a small part of the duplicates he was allowed to keep remained in the Peppé family, he notes. (Sotheby’s notes Say Pepppé was allowed to keep about one -fifth of the discovery.)

Sources have told the BBC that the auction house considers the “duplicates” to original items considered to be the surplus of those donated, which “the Indian government allows Pepppé to preserve.”

In the last six years, the precious stones have participated in large exhibitions, including one in Met in 2023. The Peppé family also started a Website Let’s “share our research.”

Some scientists claim that Buddha’s relics should never be treated as market goods.

“The Sothebis auction turns these highly sacred materials into selling objects, through acts of colonial violence, which extract them from the stupa and called them” precious stones “and” objects that are of interest to Europeans, “creating a false division with the ashes and bones with which they were illuminated,” Tomps and Tomps.

Chris Pepe told the BBC that in all the monasteries he visited “No Buddhists consider those as bodily relics.”

“Several Buddhist scientists at Western universities have recently offered a confused logic, considered facts, in which they can be considered as such. This is an academic construction that is not shared by Buddhists as a whole who are familiar with the details of the find,” he said.

Pepe said the family “looked at the donation (of the relics) of temples and museums and all of them have presented various problems with more careful control.”

“The auction seems to be the most righteous and transparent way to transfer these relics to Buddhists, and we are confident that Sotbis will achieve this.”

Some also point to Koh-i-noorseized from the British East India company and now part of the crown jewelry, with many Indians viewing it as stolen. Should Buddha’s jewelry be next?

“I believe repatriation is rarely necessary,” says Ahuzha. “Such rare and sacred relics that are unique and that determine the cultural history of the earth, however, deserve the exceptional attention of the government.”