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Sand-Buried Ruins of Khotan : vol.1 |
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sentations of attendant deities and saints. In numerous instances
the walls were further decorated with elaborate plaques of stucco
forming halos above and around the more important figures, as well
as with small paintings in fresco. The whole of the relievo work
had originally been coloured, but the layers of paint had peeled off
except where well protected in drapery folds, &c. Thus the greatest
portions of the stucco images presented themselves in their terra-
cotta ground colour.
I found from the first that the excavation of this wealth of
statuary was attended with serious difficulty. Owing probably to
the moisture rising from the neighbourhood of subsoil water, the
strong wooden framework which once supported internally the
masses of stucco and fastened them to beams let into the wall
behind, had completely rotted away. The cavities left by the
beams, which were evidently about 5 inches square, and fixed at a
uniform height of 8 feet above the ground, can clearly be seen in
the photographs, pp. 454, 461, 462, while the round holes visible in
the arms of the colossal statues (see pp. 454, 456) indicate the
position once occupied by portions of the internal framework.
Deprived of this support, the heavy stucco images threatened to
collapse when the protecting sand was being removed. The Burans
greatly added to this risk. They carried away the fine sand which
had filled the interstices between the statues and the wall behind,
and thus placed the friable masses of stucco in danger of sliding
down through their own weight to immediate destruction.
Experience soon showed me that these risks could be obviated only
by extreme care in clearing the relievos and by covering up again
their lowest portions as soon as they had been photographed.
Even so damage could not altogether be prevented. In some
instances it was necessary to secure the upper portions of statues
still intact by means of ropes held by my men, even during the few
minutes required to obtain photographs. Our procedure in these
critical cases is illustrated by the view on p. 456. It shows some
of the minor statues excavated on the inner side of the south-west
wall being thus held, and also helps to mark the true size of
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442
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452
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462
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472
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482
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492
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502
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532
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542
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552
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563
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573
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