A small white marble Buddhist stele

A small white marble Buddhist stele, Northern Qi Dynasty, the standing figure depicting Guanyin dressed in a lotus petal crown and a shoulder scarf that crosses at the waist level of his long robe to fall over the right arm raised, and the left lowered with indefinite attributes in each hand, the curving support beneath his feet trimmed with further overlapping lotus petals in contrast to the rough surface of the rectangular base, the base inscribed with 'April Zhu Tian'an', one corner of the base chipped so the year made cannot be unidentified, 30cm high See a larger stele with similar standing figure in Terukazu Akiyama and Saburo Matsubara, Arts of China: Buddhist Cave Temples, New Researches, Kodansha, 1969, no. 193, p. 189 and p. 240 (54cm height overall)Provenance: Property of a Gentleman collected in the 1980's or 1990's 北齐 "朱天安敬造"白石雕观音像拍品来源：英国私人收藏，购自上世纪八十至九十年代之间Condition Report: Smashed into four pieces and restored, extensive wear and with chips to the edgesCondition Report Disclaimer