A STONE 'THOUSAND BUDDHAS' VOTIVE STELE China, dated 1st year of the Yongan reign, Northern Wei dynasty

Alphonse Kann Collection (as at 1914)

From the Estate of Dikran G. Kelekian, New York, sold Parke Bernet, New York, December 16-17, 1953, lot 22

From the Collection of Fred Olsen, Guildford, Connecticut, sold Parke Bernet, New York, February 28, 1964, lot 422

Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York: November 8, 1980, lot 55
Private Japanese Collection

Museum Cernuschi, Paris, 1913

E. Chavannes, Six monuments de le sculpture chinoise,  Ars Asiatica II, 1914, pp. 8-12, pls. 8, 9

Z. Luo, Haiwai zhenming lu, 1915, republished in Luo Zhenyu xueshu lunzhu ji, Shanghai, 2010, vol. 6, p. 689

D. C. Wong, Chinese Steles: Pre-Buddhist and Buddhist Use of a Symbolic Form, University of Hawaii Press, 2004, p. 117

S. Jin, Haiwai ji gangtao cang lidai foxiang zhengpin jinian tujian, Taiyuan, 2007, p. 52

Buddhist stone steles emerged as a new genre during the 5^th century under the Northern Wei dynasty. They combined the traditional Chinese commemorative stele of the Han dynasty with new influences from Eurasia.  Like their Western counterparts, the Chinese stone votive steles were also carved with images and words. This present stele is rectangular with four carved sides. The main side has a recessed niche enclosing relief images of the seated Preaching Buddha flanked by two standing bodhisattvas. The treatment of the bodies is highly stylized and the folds of the long robes cascade downwards in ripples. The decoration surrounding the niche is incised, with an elaborate arch flanked by roofed shrines housing figures and winged lions, with apsaras and heavenly bodies above, and an incense burner below. The incense burner is surrounded by images of donors with their names carved beside them. The reverse of the stele is carved with a recessed central niche enclosing Maitreya, set within two rows of shallow niches with smaller Buddhas, above a long inscription. The motif of a larger Buddha surrounded by multiple smaller Buddhas is repeated on the left and right sides of the stele. These smaller Buddhas represent the Buddhas of the future and the motif is referred to as ‘The Thousand Buddhas’.  The style of the ornamentation of this stele is distinctive and highly stylized with few comparable examples. The inscription however, is typical of Northern Wei calligraphy, beautifully executed with strength and power.

Although the inscription is fragmented, we can still gain some understanding of its contents. There is mention of Maitreya, the Buddha of the future who continues to be a very popular divinity in Mahayana Buddhism, and it identifies members of the Gao family with images and names, as the donors. The name of the person who commissioned this votive stele, Gao Shenpo, appears at the end. The stele is dated ‘the first year of Yongan, wuchen year, on the fifteenth day of the eleventh month’ corresponding to December 10, 528.

This stele was once part of the collection of Alphonse Kann (1870 – 1948).  It was exhibited at the Buddhist Art Exhibition at the Museum Cernuschi, Paris, in 1913.  The French sinologists Tchou Kia-Kien and Edouard Chavanness both studied the piece, and commented on the significance of this stele, translating the inscription into French.  In 1915, the famous Chinese scholar Luo Zhenyu (1886-1940) made mention of this stele in his book Haiwai zhen ming lu (A Record of Precious Antiquities in Overseas Collections), where he lamented the outflow of important cultural relics from China.