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A rare carved stone Buddhist memorial pillar section (chuang) The massive section is of well-carved octagonal form. Each of the eight facets is carved with a musician playing a different instrument. Some are now indistinct, having been deliberately defaced, but they include a drummer, a sheng player, a xylophone player, a flautist and a cymbalist. Each is set on a ground of combed decoration, supported on a small base draped with garlands linked by bows to the middle of rings supported from lion-head masks at each apex; and each base rests on a garrya husk swag linked at each end to the sides of the rings in the lions’ mouths. The top has a shallow hole sunk into a plain disc in the centre, encircled by a broad band of scrolling foliage carved in rich rounded relief, with a figure of a child amidst the foliage on one side. The underside of the base has a hole matching that on the top. The stone is of marble-like consistency, worn to a lighter tone on the top, and with some light russet surface to the stone around the sides. For a complete Liao dynasty example of a memorial pillar, see Siren, Chinese Sculpture, vol II pl. 580; and for a section of a pillar, carved with musicians, see Zhongguo Wenwu Jinghua Daquan (Compendium of Selected Chinese Cultural Objects), Gold, Silver, Jade and Stone Volume, p.350, no. 347, which is dated to the Jin dynasty. Condition : As evident. Stock No. 937 Price : On Request
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A sandstone head of a bodhisattva The head is well carved with a beatific expression, with downward-looking hooded eyes, and large long-lobed ears, with the hair gathered up on the top into a formal chignon behind a foliate diadem. Condition : Repair to nose and front of headdress. Stock No. 665 Price : On Request
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