AN IMPORTANT PAGAN STELE 12TH CENTURYA small carved steatite Pagan andagu stele with scenes of the Eight Great Events in Buddha’s life. Burma, 12th-13th century.Provenance: From an important Hungarian private collection. Lempertz Auction 1080, Asian Art, Cologne, December 9th, 2016, lot 648. Thereafter in an Austrian private collection.Condition: Stunning condition especially given the high age of the statue. Some natural flaws and a few red veins run through the material. Extensive wear and a few microscopic nicks. The left miniature Bodhisattva is possibly a later replacement, but certainly has significant age. Beautiful natural patina and lustre, which can only be acquired through centuries of handling.Weight: 138.5 grams.Dimensions: Height 8.8 cm.At the center in full round, the Buddha seated in meditation on a double lotus supported by ‚running’ naga, the right hand in bhumisparsha mudra, showing the moment when he conquered Mara at Bodhgaya, with standing bodhisattva to both sides. The back slab is carved with small scenes of Buddha’s life, starting from the lower left: nativity in Lumbini, the first sermon at Sarnath, the taming of the Nalagari elephant, the mahaparinirvana, the miracle at Sravasti, the decent from Tavatimsha heaven and the presentation of honey in the Parileyyaka forest in Vashali. The base shows elephants, lions and atlases in the upper register, and in the lower register the Seven Jewels of a chakravartin: chakra, elephant, horse, jewel, queen, father, and general.Literature: John Lowry, Burmese Art, Victoria and Albert Museum, London 1974, no. 7 (height 8,5 cm); Susan L. Huntington and John C. Huntington, Leaves from the Bodhi Tree, Seattle/London 1990, no. 62, p. 217-222 (Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge); Claudine Bautze-Picron, Between India and Burma: The „Andagu" Stelae, in: Donald M. Stadtner (ed.), The Art of Burma, New Studies, Marg Publications, Mumbai 1999, p. 37-52; the same, New Documents of Burmese Sculpture: Unpublished ‚Andagu’ Images, in: Indo-Asiatische Zeitschrift, no. 10 (2006), p. 32-47; the same, The Bejeweled Buddha from India to Burma, New Considerations, New Delhi/Kolkata 2010 (Sixth Kumar Sarat Kumar Roy Memorial Lecture) and Ulrich von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculpture in Tibet, vol. 1, India & Nepal, Hong Kong 2001, p. 371 (369-405)