Pakistan, ancient region of Gandhara, ca. 4th century CE. A model of a Buddhist stupa, finely carved from grey schist in five sections, the square base with four double columns at corners, the walls each featuring an open lotus flower surrounded by leafy foliage, with a dentillated frieze above. This pedestal supports, from bottom to top, a drum with floral and geometric motifs, a smaller drum with checkerboard motif, a hemispherical domed structure carved with overlapping leaf forms, capped with a finial resembling a spired pagoda. Size: 8" (20.3 cm) x 3-1/4" (8.3 cm).

According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Heilbrunn Timeline, "Stupas, the earliest Buddhist monuments preserved in India, began as solid hemispherical domes that marked the remains of a great leader or teacher. They were incorporated into early Buddhist art as symbols of the continuing presence of Shakyamuni Buddha after his parinirvana (final transcendence), and as reminders of the path he defined for his followers. Buddhism carried the stupa throughout Asia, where it was interpreted in many forms, including the domed chortens of Tibet and the spired pagodas of China, Korea, and Japan."

Provenance: Ex-private east coast collection; ex-private Mussienko, MD collection, acquired 1980's.

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#108602

Intact with chips at edges of sections, base and tip of spired finial. Normal surface wear.