Ancient Khotan : vol.1 / 263 ページ（カラー画像）

0263	Ancient Khotan : vol.1
古代コータン : vol.1

Of the pottery and terra-cotta illustrated by Plates XLIII–XLVII, it cannot reasonably Objects of
be doubted that they are all typical products of the local art of ancient Khotan. It is very foreign
different in regard to the small objects in stone, metal, and bone which are shown in Plates origin.
XLVIII–LI. On some of the miniature stone carvings in the first-named Plate the style of
work as well as the material makes it highly probable that they were made in distant Gandhāra
and brought to Khotan through the link of common Buddhist worship. Among the intaglios
of Plate XLIX there are at least two (Kh. 002, Kh. 001. a) which are unmistakably the work of
engravers in the classical West, while others point to Irān or India as their places of origin.
Considering how easily small objects of value make their way by trade or otherwise over vast
areas, it is impossible to feel sure that the rest of these cut stones, or the metal seals and
miniatures in the other Plates, were all produced at Khotan. But this doubt in no way detracts
from their antiquarian interest; for it is evident that, if originally brought from elsewhere,
these small antiques found at Yōtkan must be tangible evidence of the varied art influences
which were at work in ancient Khotan.
This is particularly true of the small but remarkably well-carved reliefs (Kh. 003. g, Kh. 005, Miniature
B. D. 001. a) in a slatey stone which Plate XLVIII shows. They are characteristic specimens of reliefs.
that Graeco-Buddhist art of Gandhāra which, as we shall see, contributed more than any other
influence to shape the development of Buddhist art in Khotan. The detailed description contained
in the list renders it unnecessary to account here for the peculiar shape of these reliefs. They
undoubtedly formed part of the decoration of miniature shrines or Stūpas, such as we must
suppose to have been in use for purposes of private worship or else as votive offerings⁷. The
most interesting of these pieces is Kh. 003. g, which shows on its obverse a scene famous in
Buddhist legend, but not hitherto found among the reliefs from the ruined sites of Gandhāra.
The Bodhisattva, having forsaken his princely abode to take up the life of a mendicant, is
cutting with the sword in his right hand his long lock (cūḍā), the end of which is grasped by
his left. M. Foucher, who at once recognized the scene on being shown its reproduction in the
Plate, has since discussed the legend of the texts and its extremely rare representation in Buddhist
iconography with his usual lucidity and acumen⁸.
The other two small reliefs represent scenes familiar in Gandhāra sculpture, the birth of
Buddha (Kh. 005) and Buddha's temptation by Māra (B. D. 001. a). In the former the clever
adaptation of the relief on the obverse to the contour furnished by the larger scale carving of
the reverse is deserving of notice. For the remaining small sculptures shown in Plate XLVIII,
four of them seated Buddhas or Bodhisattvas, Indian origin is less clearly indicated; but the
influence of Gandhāra style is recognizable in all of them, and the materials (soapstone and
slate) are such as we commonly meet with in the sculptures of the Peshāwar valley. The small
ivory group in the round (Kh. 008), on the other hand, might well be Khotan work; the treatment
of its subject, a male figure embracing a female, seems closely allied to that observed in certain
terra-cottas, and the fashion of hair and dress similarly shows points of contact⁹.
Among the intaglios from Yōtkan reproduced in Plate XLIX the standing Eros (Kh. 002), Intaglios.
and the quadriga with charioteer (Kh. 001. a) are manifestly Roman work of the early centuries A. D.

国立情報学研究所 - ディジタル・シルクロード・プロジェクト
『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ

引用情報

OCR読み取り結果

国立情報学研究所 - ディジタル・シルクロード・プロジェクト 『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ

引用情報

OCR読み取り結果

国立情報学研究所 - ディジタル・シルクロード・プロジェクト
『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ