A Pala black stone stele of Vishnu. Northeastern... Lot 5

A Pala black stone stele of Vishnu. Northeastern India, Bengal. 12th century The four-armed Vishnu stands in samapada on a double lotus base, to his sides Lakshmi with a flywhisk and Sarasvati with a vina, to their sides a small figure. The right main hand in varada mudra, the left hand is missing, in the upper hands gada and chakra, a long garland reaches down to the knees, the plith with adorants, the backslab with elephants, lions, makara heads, hamsa birds, apsara and a kirtimukha at the top. Height 73.5 cm Provenance Private collection, The Netherlands, acquired at Christie´s, Amsterdam, 12.10.1993, lot 99 Literature Compare a very similar stele in the Museum für Asiatische Kunst, Berlin, illustrated in: Claudine Bautze-Picron, The Art of Eastern India, Berlin 1998, no. 214