Rare fragment de bas-relief en pierre VE-VIE siècle

représentant une apsara allongée de profil, tenant un fruit dans les mains, ses hanches couvertes d'une légère étoffe, une fine étole flottant autour de ses épaules, le visage serein sous une coiffure élaborée et un haut chignon, traces de polychromie, socle en bois (2)

Depictions of apsaras in half profile with elongated bodies in subtle movements are characteristic of the sculptural style of the Northern Dynasties during the 6th century AD as found in the cave temples at Gongxian, Henan, and Xiangtangshan, Hebei. Compare examples from Gongxian, illustrated in Gongxian shiku si, Beijing, 1963, pp. 27, 34, 146; see also a grey schist apsara attributed to Xiangtangshan, sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 29th and 30th April 1997, lot 711.