16. LARGE STELE DEPICTING THE CROWNED BUDDHA IN BLACK STONE North-east India, Pala period, 10th / 11th century AN IMPORTANT BLACKSTONE PANEL OF CROWNED BUDDHA Northeastern India, Pala period, 10th/11th century 54cm (21in) high. 印度東北部 帕拉時期 十/十一世紀 黑石寶冠佛碑 Provenance: The Collection of Mr. Paul E. Manheim, New York, by 1974 Sotheby's, New York, 20 September 1985, lot 266 Ulrich von Schroeder, October 2007 From a distinguished European collector Exhibited: On loan to the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, 1974-1985. 來源： Paul E. Manheim先生於1974年前珍藏，紐約 紐約蘇富比，1985年9月20日，編號266 馮-施羅德，2007年10月 歐洲顯赫私人珍藏 展覽： 於1974年至1985年借展於巴爾的摩沃爾特斯藝術博物館 This finely carved panel depicts a central image of Shakyamuni Buddha represented as a universal monarch according to the ancient Indian concept of spiritual sovereignty (charkavartin). Sculpted within a recessed niche, the enthroned Crowned Buddha meditates with an aloof, steadfast expression. Embellishing the trefoil arch above him, the flamboyant tail feathers of a pair of mythical swans (hamsa) swirl upward and converge with foliate scrolls spewed from the mouth of a central, horned 'face of glory' (kirtimukha). A second image of Buddha Shakyamuni, this time without regalia, appears at the panel's apex, ensconced between two halves of a gavaksha, a type of horseshoe arch frequented in the sacred architecture of northeastern India (Hardy, Indian Temple Architecture, 1995, p. 200, fig. 21.14). Several other panels with architectural compositions framing central Crowned Buddha images are published in Bautze-Picron, The Bejeweled Buddha from India to Burma, 2010, p. 99, nos. 121-4. With the addition of a diminutive figure carved right of centre within the panel's bottom register, the present composition also commemorates one of the Ashtamahipritiharya (lit. 'the eight great miraculous events') of Buddha Shakyamuni's life. A monkey wearing a leaf skirt is shown leaning over a well, referencing 'The Miracle of Vaishali'. Vaishali was the city where Shakyamuni gives his last sermon, after which a monkey snatches his alms bowl and returns it full of honey. (The vessel depicted within the present Crowned Buddha's lap has crosshatched markings to denote it filled.) So thrilled that the great sage accepts his pious offering, the monkey accidentally barrels headfirst into a well, causing his immediate death, but also his more auspicious rebirth in heaven. Another Pala stele with the monkey offering the bowl to a Crowned Buddha was sold at Bonhams, New York, 20 March 2018, lot 3224. The Miracle of Vaishali's depiction within the present panel, at the moment when the monkey descends into the well, and the Crowned Buddha being modelled in vajrasana pose, follow the manner in which this story is typically represented in the sculpture of Nalanda and Bodh Gaya (Bautze-Picron, The Forgotten Place: Stone Images from Kurkihar, Bihar, 2015, p. 86). The present carving's crisp definition and polished finish are also characteristic of the refined quality of stone sculpture produced for such preeminent centres of Buddhist worship in northeastern India.