Carved stone railings were commonly erected around stupas and other sacred enclosures. This coping stone with a frieze of lions and palmettes is one of a number of surviving portions from one such railing. An inscription on the back states that it was commissioned by ‘Kashiputra Yashaka, the confidant of King Suryamitra, the son of Gopali.’
Harle, J. C., and Andrew Topsfield, Indian Art in the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 1987), no. 10 on p. 9, pp. xiv & 22, pl. 3 (colour) & p. 9
Hartel, Herbert, ‘An Early Coping Stone Inscription from Mathura’, Gouriswar Bhattacharya, ed., Deyadharma: Studies in Memory of Dr. D. C. Sircar, Sri Garib Dass Oriental Series No. 33 (Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, 1986), pp. 101-102 & 106, illus. p. 105 figs 2a-2b
Ahuja, Naman, ‘Early Indian Art at the Ashmolean Museum - Catalogue in progress’, 2016, no. 91.1
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