Unidentified scene; female figures

Part of a relief with two superimposed registers, the lower one showing a scene possibly from the Last Existence, the upper one two female couples on a balcony. The base consists of a plain fillet, the cornice is decorated with a row of saw-teeth. A circular nail hole is drilled in the centre of the lower register. The back face shows vertical tool marks. The lower register depicts an unidentified scene. It was originally encased between framed half-columns of the Gandharan-Cornthian type, of which only the one on the right-proper side remains. On the right, two male figures are standing in right three-quarter view. They both hold an object, possibly a container. They wear a paridhāna, an uttarīya, and a skull-cap turban with a fantail and a diadem. A city wall is shown on the right. It features two towers with merlons, rectangular loopholes, and an architraved door. The head of a male turning to the right is carved in the background. He wears a hemispherical helmet with raised front brim and chin-band. The upper register shows two female couples carved in bust on a balcony. This latter features a railing and is partly covered by a drape on the right. The couple on the right is facing each other. The figure on the left is shown frontal, her right hand is raised up. The one on the right is depicted in right three-quarter view. She holds a portable mirror in her left hand. Both figures have hair with curly fringe, a knot, and a coil of hair. It appears they both wear a long tunic. The couple on the left was probably identical to the previous one. The figure on the right is shown frontal with the head turning to her female companion. Only scanty remains of this latter are discernible. The two couples are separated by the upper part of a Gandharan-Corinthian pillar.