National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
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Serindia : vol.2 |
954 CAVE-TEMPLES & ANTIQUES OF THE THOUSAND BUDDHAS [Ch. XXV
Ch. 0073. Frs. of painted silk banner, showing dark red lotus and lower part of standing fig. draped in striped skirt of dark grey and red, with pattern of four-petalled flowers, red and grey respectively, on the alternate stripes. Evidently a Bodhisattva of type *Ch. xxvi. a. 007.
7"X7"
Ch. 0074. Silk painting with Tib. inscr. representing Avalokilesvara (?) with attendants and donors. Broken top and bottom ; much faded ; rent across middle sewn together in antiquity ; frs. of silk border preserved at sides.
Picture probably shows a simple form of Sukhâvati, Avalok. taking place of Buddha Amitâbha. He is seated with legs interlocked on lotus raised on rectang. stepped pedestal behind altar ; hands within each other in lap, with tips of thumbs touching ; no Dhyàni-buddha. In front small tank with duck and crane (?) standing on rocks ; on either side of pedestal conventional white lion. Above is canopy, but no celestial buildings.
Four seated Bodhisattvas, ranged one above other, fill sides of picture. Tib. inscriptions on horizontal cartouches are attached to six upper of these, but two at top are illegible. From others the four central Bodhisattvas are identified as follows : On R. (Avalok.' s L.), above Sarvanivara?utviskamblrin, below Santantabhadra ; on L., above Ksitigarbha, below Mai juiri. Two latter hold respectively flaming jewel and Pôthi ; others have for most part one hand on knee and other raised in mystic pose ; one, in L. bottom corner, with flesh dark green or grey, carries sword over shoulder (cf. banner *Ch. xxvi. a. 007). All sit with feet crossed and one knee slightly raised ; type of features, dress, and ornaments throughout ' Indian', as in Ch. lv. 007, *0054, etc.
Avalok.'s flesh yellow ; that of Bodhisattvas (with exception of one referred to above) pink ; outlines of flesh red ; hair black ; colouring of robes, accessories, circular haloes, and vesicas crimson, dark green, slate blue, and yellow. Traces only of donors below ; details of costume indistinguishable. Workmanship mediocre. 3' 2" x a'.
Ch. 0075. Remains of embroidered silk panel, set in plain silk border of faded light green (?), 71." wide. Embroidery worked on light red silk gauze woven in lozenge diaper, and afterwards mounted on plain red silk, but not (as in most cases) worked through both silk and gauze. The two have consequently fallen apart ; gauze survives only in frs. It consists of masses of leaves, flowers, and clouds, in brilliant reds, blues, greens, and purple ; prob. all-over design like Ch. 00281. True satin stitch used throughout, so that embroidery is practically solid on both sides, and frs. consist of masses and trails of leaves with no gauze visible. Style of work entirely Chinese. Border (incomplete) 3' 3" x 2'.
Ch. 0076. Triangular head-piece from large silk banner, of plain red silk, glazed, with 3' border of large-patterned floral silk. On triangular panel a seated Buddha, in yellow outline, eyes only in black. Pattern of figured silk, woven in red and pale yellow on ground of deep royal blue, consists of repeating ' spots', roughly elliptical and lozenge-shaped. Ellipses made of large lotuses, with double rays of
pointed petals and four pairs of tendril-like leaves spreading from cardinal points. Lozenge-shapes, c. 84" x 71", made of central four-petalled rosette (trilobate petals), with palmette-shaped half-open flowers growing from trefoil sheath on two opposite sides, i. e. along short diagonal of lozenge. On each of other sides, i.e. along long diagonal, a pair of flying birds, facing inwards, with a pair of curved bracts between their heads, and similar palmette-shaped flowers between tips of their wings, forming top and bottom points of lozenge.
These lozenge-shapes repeat horizontally, nearly touching, across material ; but their extremities above and below separated from adjoining rows by space of about Ir. Treatment of bird and flower forms quite Chinese.
Weave, a very loose kind of satin twill ; warp, very fine and well sized ; the weft broad, flat, and untwisted. Flowers and leaves woven in red with yellow outlines, flower centres and ribs of petals in blue ; birds in yellow outlined with red. Yellow has completely lost colour, and red much faded. Material somewhat split. Base of panel c. t' 8", length of sides 2'. Pl. CXI, and p. 906.
Ch. 0077. Nine artificial flowers of wood or paper, tied up in linen square (miniature canopy). Flowers made of diminishing series of paper discs or squares (buff, brown, black, red, and green), cut round edges in petal form and pasted one on top of another. To middle of back is gummed small disc of wood or gourd for strengthening purposes. One flower formed of larger wooden disc, covered with white-spotted green paper, and surrounded by red paper petals gummed on to back, with inner whorl of red and black paper petals. See also Ch. 00149. a-e. Average diam. 3".
Ch. 0078. Rectang. border of coarse linen, orig. binding bamboo manuscript-roll cover like Ch. xx. 006. Ends only of mat-work remain in ends of border. Linen was covered with strips of silk brocade, of which one still remains sewn along one side. Colour and design indistinguishable. I' IO2" X I'.
Ch. oo80. a-c. Three painted linen banner-tops : a and b (single), evidently the front and back of a double banner-top ; c (double) complete, with border, suspension loop, and wooden strainer. Each painted in red, green, and yellow, with Buddha seated in meditation on lotus ; rough work. a and b, h. I I', base 2' ; c, h. 8", base I' 5°.
Ch. oo81. Painted silk banner ; considerably broken, upper end of painting and all accessories lost.
Subject : Bodhisattva. Stands R. on two lotuses,
resp. brown and red, R. hand raised in vitarka-mudr8, L. at breast holding in palm white lotus bud tipped with blue. Dress and style of work as in *Ch. 002, but painting on smaller scale. Robe very full, pulled up in bag-like folds over chains ; colouring soft and dull. Under-robe dark red, skirt dark red shaded with lighter tint, stole dull blue and green. Flesh pinkish white outlined with dark pink ; tiara a white fillet with red lotus bud over forehead. Face short and full, with mild thoughtful expression. 1' 4" x 5 ". Pl. LXXXII.
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