A STONE STELE OF CHINTAMANI LOKESHVARA 


NEPAL, CIRCA 16TH CENTURYHimalayan Art Resources item no.61902 17 1/2 in. (44.5 cm) high
|尼泊爾 約十六世紀 倚樹觀音石碑 On the right side of this finely carved stele, Avalokiteshvara holds the trunk of the wish-fullfilling tree, and delivers a plucked boon to a crowned celestial helper (purusha) holding a sack below. Tara stands in the center with the lotus and lily flowering from her pure, divine being. On the left, another representation of Avalokitesvara as Padmapani completes the trio. This subject is rare in stone sculpture, but is repeated in an early 18th-century paubha (Pal, An Aesthetic Adventure, Chicago, 2003, p.82, no.47) and a lamp in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Pal, Art of Nepal, Los Angeles, 1985, p.141, no.S71). For a stylistic comparison in stone, see a Vishnu and Lakshmi panel sold at Christie's, New York, 20 September 2006, lot 116. Provenance Heinrich von Brentano, Berlin, 1964 Hans Battenburg, Dusseldorf Thence by descent