A White Marble Buddhist Stele

Northern Qi Dynasty, 550 – 577
Dated by Inscription to AD 554
Height: 49.2 cm

A white marble Buddhist stele of pointed arched form, carved in high relief with a figure of Guanyin standing between two bodhisattva, beneath a smaller seated figure of Amitabha, flanked by six flying apsara, all below a stupa hung with beaded tassels, against a ground of foliate scrolls, supported on a plinth carved with a censer supported on the back of a strongman, flanked by lions and guardians, the back covered with a dark red pigment above a worn inscription partially reading Tianbao si nian san yue ershi ri (4th year of Tianbao, 3rd month, 20th day), stand (2).

Provenance

• Christie’s, London, 1982

• Eskenazi Ltd, London, until 1986

• Michael B. Weisbrod, Inc., New York, from August, 1986

• Enid A. Haupt, New York, 1987

• Christie’s, New York, March 2000

• Weisbrod Chinese Art, Ltd, New York

• Canadian Private Collection

• Sotheby’s, New York, 2014

• Important North American Collection