A rare double-sided inscribed limestone Buddhist stele, Tang dynasty, dated Shangyuan 2nd year, corresponding to 675 | 唐上元二年（675年） 石灰石雕佛像龕

A small series of Buddhist votive steles, closely linked in style to the present piece, is illustrated in Matsubara Saburo, Chinese Buddhist Sculpture, Tokyo, 1966, pls 243 (c), pl. 245 (b) dated equivalent to 679A.D., pl. 247 (c) dated equivalent to 676 A.D., and pl.248 (a) dated equivalent to 672 A.D. See also a stele from the Wannieck Collection, illustrated in Osvald Siren, Chinese Sculpture from the Fifth to the Fourteenth Century, vol. 4, New York, 1970, pl. 509; and another sold in our London rooms, 17th December 1996, lot 170.