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Lot Essay
This finely carved stone stele illustrates the eight principal events in Buddha's life following a popular Pala period iconographic device. The narrative elements are reduced to iconic images that remain recognizable due to attributes or gestures. The large central image depicts Buddha after the triumph over Mara, touching the Earth as his witness. The remaining seven are arranged as follows, clockwise from lower left: the birth; the descent from Trayastrimsa Heaven; the first sermon at Sarnath, with two deer flanking the wheel; the death, parinirvana; the miracle of Sravasti; the taming of the mad elephant Nalagiri; the monkey's gift of honey, holding a bowl.
The stone is a gray-beige schist, linking it to the Bodhgaya region, as opposed to the more common variety of black stone used during the Pala period. The carving is of exceptionally fine quality, with the back side very finely finished with horizontal chisel marks, and the treatment of the central figure, specifically of the facial features and jewelry, is very closely related to the crowned Buddha stele from the John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, see S. and J. Huntington, Leaves from the Bodhi Tree: The Art of Pala India (8th-12th centuries) and Its International Legacy, 1990, cat. no. 15. It similarly bears a Buddhist consecratory formula inscribed along the base. The crown is of a distinctive triangular design and undoubtedly emulates actual crowns likely made of metal repouss/Ae. It is unique to this period and also appears in the context of the bronzes from the Kurkihar hoard, emphasizing Buddha's role as the Universal sovereign.
For another example of a Buddha life stele, see Christie's New York, 17 September 2003, lot 23.
The stone is a gray-beige schist, linking it to the Bodhgaya region, as opposed to the more common variety of black stone used during the Pala period. The carving is of exceptionally fine quality, with the back side very finely finished with horizontal chisel marks, and the treatment of the central figure, specifically of the facial features and jewelry, is very closely related to the crowned Buddha stele from the John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, see S. and J. Huntington, Leaves from the Bodhi Tree: The Art of Pala India (8th-12th centuries) and Its International Legacy, 1990, cat. no. 15. It similarly bears a Buddhist consecratory formula inscribed along the base. The crown is of a distinctive triangular design and undoubtedly emulates actual crowns likely made of metal repouss/Ae. It is unique to this period and also appears in the context of the bronzes from the Kurkihar hoard, emphasizing Buddha's role as the Universal sovereign.
For another example of a Buddha life stele, see Christie's New York, 17 September 2003, lot 23.