A CHUNAR SANDSTONE STELE WITH BODHISATTVAS OR NAVAGRAHA


NORTH INDIA, UTTAR PRADESH, CIRCA 8TH CENTURY8 3/8 in. (21.2 cm) high
|The stele depicts three male deities standing in tribhanga poses, holding garlands or implements in their raised right hands and water pots in their lowered left hands. The stele is made of Chunar sandstone, associated with the art of Mathura in Uttar Pradesh. The carved front surface has a buff color while the stele's back is a mottled red. The arrangement of each figure within arcaded niches is also a stylistic feature of Uttar Pradesh (cf. Desai & Mason, Gods, Guardian, and Lovers, New York, 1993, pp.244-7, no.62). Provenance Collection of Fay and William Bullock King (1911-73), South Carolina Thence by descent Gifted to the Charleston Library Society, South Carolina, 5 May 1992