Cf. a lokapala of comparable size in the Shanghai Municipal Museum but holding a weapon and standing on two monsters also dated to Northern Song illustrated in Zhongguo Meishu Quanji, sculpture, vol. 5, no. 77; another of earlier Five Dynasties date is illustrated in ibid, no. 23, but in low relief on the wall of a tomb in Jiangsu Province. The Tang style from which this is derived may be seen on a stucco figure from the Silk Route now in the Musee Guimet, cf. Hai-Wai Yi-Chen, Buddhist Sculpture, vol. 2, pl. 130, where the figure is much more corpulent and portrayed with more dramatic emphasis
(US$150,000-200,000)