This third or fourth-century wooden frame was found in pieces with the carved faces to the ground, hence their preservation. The decorative motifs show the influence of Gandhāran art with the clematis and eight-petalled lotus. However identification and interpretation of Silk Road motifs is not always unproblematic as they travel across cultures and attain new meanings (see cat. nos. 245, 246). Stein suggested the central carved motif represented a pomegranate while others scholars suggest rather it is a garlanded and decorated stupa. On the basis of this and the lotus, the piece has been identified as a Buddhist altar frame.
Wood
The British Museum, 1907,1111.85 (N.vii.4)