A winged hourglass is seen above the soul effigy on this 18th century grave. A skull and crossbones is also seen on each side of the grave.
Old Hill Burying Ground
Concord MA 7 23 18
This stele depicts the Buddha at centre holding one hand in abhaya mudra and the other gripping the corner of his robe. He is flanked by Avalokiteshvara who holds a blossoming lotus over his shoulder and Maitreya who carries an ewer in his lowered hand. The triad bears several hallmarks of the influential idioms of Gupta and post-Gupta art of the Sarnath style adopted into Kashmir from the 4th-7th centuries, though predominantly reflects a matured Classical style of the Utapala Dynasty (855-939). Here, figures are fuller in form with shortened proportions, having retracted from the softer contours of these inherited Indian styles. Male figures, in particular, display broad flattened torsos and a modelled musculature of the body as illustrated here.
