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0173 Innermost Asia : vol.2
Innermost Asia : vol.2 / Page 173 (Grayscale High Resolution Image)

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doi: 10.20676/00000187
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Sec. vi] LIST OF ANTIQUES FROM CEMETERIES NEAR ASTANA   693

shrinkage in dyeing. So the pattern is of slightly denser texture than the ground without any additional threads being introduced. Well preserved. 13" x 3". Pl. XXXVI.

Ast. iii. 3.03. Frs. of silk ; crimson ; with slightly corded texture. Very discoloured in places. Well preserved. Gr. fr. 16" x io".

Ast. iii. 3. 04. Frs. of silk ; white and of fine texture ; discoloured in places. Well preserved. Gr. fr. c. xi" x

Ast. iii. 3. 05. Wooden comb, with long diverging teeth

and narrow curved back. Well made. 4f" x 21" x   Pl.
XCIV.

Ast. iii. 4. 0n. Silk tubular object. Striped herring-bone twill, alternate yellow and dull pink. Thread bound loosely

round one end. Finely woven and in perfect condition. 2.x}

Ast. iii. 4. 02. Three silk artificial leaves, green, with stalk of gummed silk to which leaf is bound by fine floss silk. Av. i}" x r}".

Ast. iii. 4. 03. a. Two silk sleeve-like objects, white, with turn-over cuff, tied loosely at opposite end with raw silk ; cf. Ast. iii. 4. or. 5}" x r}".

Ast. iii. 4.03. b. Fr. of silk painting on fine buff canvas painted with a bough of white blossoms with pink calyx. Two blossoms are in the act of falling from the bough. Stems brown shaded with grey. Outline black. Style Chinese. 3" x 31"

Ast. iii. 4. 04. Fr. of paper, cut into continuous string of ` cash ', still attached to the waste part from which another string of ` cash ' has been cut. r51" x 3". Pl. XCIII.

Ast. iii. 4. 05. Frs. of silk painting. Small frs. from larger painting, in white with coarse brown outlines.

Ast. iii. 4. 06. Fr. of silk damask, pale yellow. Spot pattern, a lozenge composed of nine dots. Twill on tabby ground. Well preserved. 24" x 2}".

Ast. iii. 4. 07. Fr. of silk ; plain white. r4" x 21".

Ast. iii. 4. o8. Fr. of painted paper. Ground red with rosette formed of six spots of alternate blue and green with white centre round similar green spot ; to this the spots are attached each by pedicle of white, with three radiating white lines between spots. 4}" x

Ast. iii. 4. og. Fr. of white silk ' sleeve ', in miniature ; four-petalled rosettes of alternate red and blue and red and green, petals outlined black, painted on at intervals of xi". Torn away at both ends. 3}" x n}".

Ast. iii. 4. ono. a—j. Painting on silk.

General Note. Mass of frs. of figure subjects (genre) painted on silk bolting. No subject complete. Frs. are parts of a scroll (chlian or Makimono) edged with buff silk damask of a pattern similar to Ser. iv. Pl. CXVII, T. xiv. v. oorr a, and subjects are divided from each other by strips of the same pasted on. [For an account of the relation of this painting to other remains of Tang pictorial art, the original arrangement of the panels, &c., see

II

` Remains of a Tang Painting discovered by Sir Aurel Stein, described by Laurence Binyon', Burlington Magazine June x925.]

The style of painting recalls irresistibly Japanese work in so far as the precision of craftsmanship is concerned: All the work is clean-cut and decisive. There is no background, but trees near the figures are introduced perhaps to indicate open air. Birds flying and blossoms falling serve the same purpose ; but there is no perspective, no atmosphere, and these accessories are dry and hard.

The figures are, however, very human in an unemotional placid way. The faces are pale pink, perhaps white, delicately tinted on cheek and eyelids with an artificial blush. The eyes are long and narrow, and in the attendants more oblique than in the ` quality'.

The coiffures are elaborate but very neat and precise. One person is holding in her hand an object which resembles a jewelled toupee. The ladies appear to affect a turban-like arrangement with a knot in front (resembling the toupee referred to) and a long double-barred gold pin on the R. side. Attendants have the hair parted in the middle and folded in sleek bundles over the ears, which are covered. One person has what looks like a long wolf's tail all over the head and hanging on the L. shoulder. Two evidently superior persons have a blue cloth projecting in a loose round fold above the forehead from the back of the ` turban '.

The dress of attendants is a single loose overall reaching to ankles, with long sleeves ; simple, round neck opening and narrow belt. The ladies wear a long trailing robe held up from the high waist-band by braces passing generally over a loose mantle. This drapes the shoulders with a V-opening in front, from which issues a white fichu or kerchief, falling in trumpet folds to a point about waist level. All drapery is simply drawn and is very graceful. A darker tint is used to express folds, which are also indicated by black contour lines. A small spot pattern is frequently introduced all over the draperies. Foliage on trees is in two tints of green, dark and light, and every leaf is outlined with black. The dark green is the outer plane, and the light the under.

A Tilaka of various forms is painted in red on all faces, and always a crescent in red beside each eye ; cf. clay model Ast. iii. 2. 022, Pl. XCIX.

All the colours, which are opaque, are perfectly fresh, and the harmony is charming. Some of the pigments appear to have had a corrosive effect on the silk, as frequently the outlines of missing pieces are accurately left. Black outlines are often softened by a grey line below or beside.

Ast. iii. 4. ono. a. Silk painting. Shows part of three compartments each about 21 inches in height and about 8} inches in width, divided from each other by strips of silk damask. L. shows a small yellow table on which are traces of gilded objects, and beside it a portion of drapery, yellow, striped red. Centre compartment shows R. side of dancing figure in orange long-sleeved robe, R. arm upraised ;

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