Lot 820. An inscribed and dated red sandstone Buddhist stele, Northern Wei dynasty (AD 386-534), dated by inscription to AD 500; 10 1/4 in. (26 cm.) high. Estimate USD 5,000 – USD 7,000. Price realised USD 13,860. © Christie's 2023

The main side of the stele is carved in high relief with a figure of Buddha shown seated in dhyanasana and right hand held open in abhaya mudra. The adjacent sides are carved in more shallow relief, with one showing the Buddha standing between two bodhisattvas below a pair of apsaras holding a lotus flower, and the other showing the Buddha seated in meditation above two bodhisattvas in conversation. The fourth side is carved with a dedicatory inscription and the entire pillar is surmounted by a four-sided peaked roof.

Provenance: Acquired in Hong Kong, 1998.
J. J. Lally & Co., New York, no. 2824.

Note: The carved inscription begins with a date which may be translated as “tenth day, seventh month, first year [of the reign of] Jing Ming,” corresponding to AD 500.

A Northern Wei stone Buddhist stele of closely related form in the collection of the Taito City Calligraphy Museum, Tokyo, dated by inscription to the 2nd year of Yanxing (AD 472), is illustrated in Hokugi seikizo bukkyo chokkoku no tenkai (Development of Buddhist Sculpture in Northern Wei Dynasty China), Osaka, 2013, pp. 16-17, no. 02. See, also, the Northern Wei stone carving of a seated Buddha with very similar treatment of the drapery of the robes, illustrated by Matsubara, Chugoku bukkyo chokokushi kenkyu (Chinese Buddhist Sculpture: A Study Based on Bronze and Stone Statues other than Works from Cave-Temples), Tokyo, 1966, pl. 54a, with description on p. 238.

Christie's. J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 23.03.2023