97. * W STELE REPRESENTING TARA IN POLYCHROME BLACK STONE North-East India, Pala period, circa 11th century A POLYCHROME BLACKSTONE STELE OF TARA Northeastern India, Pala period, circa 11th century 74 cm (29 1/8 in) high To be sold without reserve Please note that this lot will be sold without reserve 本拍品不設底價 印度東北部 帕拉時期 約十一世紀 度母黑石碑 Provenance: Dr David R. Nalin collection, US, before 1970 Carlton Rochell, New York, 2005 Published: Divine Incarnations: Art from India and Southeast Asia, Carlton Rochell Ltd, New York, 2005, no. 15. 來源 美國David R. Nalin博士舊藏，1970年代以前入藏 Carlton Rochell，紐約，2005 出版 《Divine Incarnations: Art from India and Southeast Asia》，Carlton Rochell有限公司，紐約，2005年，編號15 The Mahayana goddess, Tara, provides a primary source of refuge for Buddhists. Depicted here in the aspect of Syamatara, or Green Tara, which emphasizes her ability to save devotees from a variety of perils. Gracefully shifting her weight onto her left leg, she offers her outstretched right hand in the gesture of charity (varada mudra), an emblematic display of her compassionate virtues. A blue lily (utpala) blooms by her left shoulder. From the curvaceous modeling of her limbs and upper torso, to the fullness of her lips, pointed nose, and calm expression, this large and finely carved stele stands as a testament to the sensual modeling that characterizes sculptures from the Pala period of northeastern India (8th-12th centuries). The Pala period was a golden age in Buddhist art history, catalyzing pivotal aesthetic transformations that would become archetypal throughout many parts of Asia. For comparisons with another Pala sculpture that shares with the present sculpt in its asymmetrical standing pose, see a stele of Avalokiteshvara that was sold in Bonhams, New York, 17 September 2014, lot 92.