A RARE LIMESTONE STELE DEPICTING BUDDHA SHAKYAMUNI

Description:

China, Eastern Wei dynasty, inscribed and dated 542 A.D.
H. 47,5 cm
The stele is sculpted in high relief with Buddha Shakyamuni standing in the centre on a lotus-base, his right hand is showing the abhayamudra while the left the varadamudra, wearing monastic garment, his face displaying a serene expression with downcast eyes below arched eyebrows, the hairdo continuing into the ushnisha, tear-drop shaped halo behind, flanked by a pair of bodhisattvas standing similarly on a lotus-base, holding each a peach-shaped fan in the lowered hand and all three placed on a base carved with a pair of dancing figures, the reverse with inscription: “Xinhe si nian jiu yue shi yi ri…” (On the 11th day of the 9th month of the 4th year of the Xinghe Era [539-542]).
From the collection of Gerd-Wolfgang Essen (1930-2007), assembled between the 1950s and 1980s
Partly broken and restored