AN IMPORTANT AND VERY RARE STONE BUDDHIST STELENORTHERN WEI DYNASTY (AD 386-534), DATED BY INSCRIPTION TO AD 457The Buddha is shown seated in dhyanasana with hands held in dhyanamudra, wearing robes that fall in heavy folds, and his sensitively carved face bears a contemplative expression, beneath the hair and usnisha carved with a chevron-like whorl pattern. The figure is flanked by two smaller acolytes and backed by a tall aurole carved with bands decorated with acolytes and diminutive Buddhas. The reverse is carved with the birth, bath, and first seven steps of the Buddha, above a dedicatory inscription, followed by a date, corresponding to AD 457.16 1⁄8 in. (41 cm.) high, softwood stand