A Rare Carved Grey Stone Buddhist Architectural Fragment

NORTHERN QI DYNASTY

Details

A Rare Carved Grey Stone Buddhist Architectural Fragment
Northern Qi dynasty
One side carved with Buddha seated in padmasana atop a lotus blossom surrounded by decorative scrolling clouds with raised outlines, and supported by formalized foliate motifs separating the vertical bands held within the jaws of two ascending horned dragons, their claws grasping the bands farther down, one side similarly, but not identically carved, the other side and the top somewhat roughly hewn and the back left plain
14¾in.(37.5cm.) high x 9¼in.(23.5cm.) deep, stand

Provenance

Alice Boney.

Lot Essay

The manner in which the dragons bite and twine around the two vertical bands as they rise towards the figure of Buddha is similar to the fantastic dragons and birds carved on a coffin platform side dated to the Northern Qi dynasty in the Royal Ontario Museum, illustrated in Homage to Heaven, Homage to Earth, Toronto, 1992, p. 162, no. 91. The raised outlines of some of the elements are also similar to those found on this piece. On both the intricacy of design is finely conceived.

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