Page 26 - CHRISTIE'S Buddhist Art Japanese Collections 09/14/17
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A STONE BUDDHIST STELE SECTION
NORTHERN WEI DYNASTY (AD 386-534)
The stele is carved with a curtain-framed niche enclosing two bodhisattvas This stone stele section is similar to others of Northern Wei date that depict
seated on lions fanking the central fgure of the bodhisattva Maitreya shown Maitreya seated with crossed ankles between lions and subsidiary fgures
seated with right hand raised and the left resting on the left knee, his ankles within a curtain-framed niche. An upper section of a stone stele in the
are crossed so that the feet rest on a lotus pod supported by the raised, Beilin Museum, Xian, is illustrated by Matsubara Saburo in Chugoku Bukkyo
scarf-wrapped arms of a kneeling fgure fanked on each side by two disciples Chokokushi ron (The Path of Chinese Buddhist Sculpture), vol. 1, Tokyo, 1995,
standing with their hands clasped within the full sleeves of their robes. A pl. 215. In the Beilin Museum example, Maitreya is fanked by two fgures of
dedicatory inscription is carved on the reverse. disciples that appear to be kneeling on the backs of the lions, which are in
10¿ in. (25.7 cm.) high, wood stand turn fanked by two Buddhas seated with their hands resting on the knees
of their pendent legs. Three other steles that include similar sections are
$10,000-15,000 illustrated by Li Jingjie in Shifo Xuancui (Essence of Buddhist Statues),
Beijing, 1995: one with a dedicatory inscription from Guanzhong, p. 37, no.
PROVENANCE 17; one from Maijishan Mountain, Tianshui City, p. 38, no. 18; and one from
Nannieshui, Qinxian county, p. 177, no. 157. In all of these representations, the
Private collection, Japan, acquired prior to 1930. depiction of the gathered curtain as a framing device implies that the curtain
has been pulled back to reveal the scene within.
The inscription includes names of those who commissioned the stele, but the
date is now missing. 北魏 砂岩雕彌勒佛三尊像
(inscription on reverse)
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