Buddhist Carving Fragment A

Only traces of painted and glided decoration remain on the surface of these two fragments of limestone sculpture.

Fragment A, roughly in the shape of a diamond, was originally the pointed top of a boat-shaped halo. At the centre there is a stupa in high relief, surrounded by lotuses and leaves. On either side two apsaras (flying "nymphs") are seen in profile elegantly rising, bearing the stupa in their hands. Fragment B, roughly in the shape of a trapezoid, is the upper left portion of a halo. The grace of an apsara-musician is captured in the curves of her body and her flowing garment.

Identical halo designs can be seen on the Buddhist Triad unearthed from the hoard of Longxing Temple in Qingzhou, Shandong province. (Buddhist art of the Longxing Temple in Qingzhou, figs. 41, 44 &199) Judging from the style and technique, these fragments probably belong to the same Qingzhou tradition, and can be dated to the late Northern dynasties, approximately from the Eastern Wei to Northern Qi period, corresponding to the mid-6th century.