banner; painting; 幡(Chinese); 繪畫(Chinese) BM-1919-0101-0.139

Period:Tang dynasty Production date:851-900 (circa)
Materials:silk, 絲綢 (Chinese),
Technique:painted
Subjects:bodhisattva canopy lotus vessel 菩薩 (Chinese) 華蓋 (Chinese) 蓮花 (Chinese) 器皿 (Chinese)
Dimensions:Height: 81.50 centimetres Width: 26.30 centimetres

Description:
Banner of a bodhisattva standing under a canopy on a lotus. He holds a dimpled glass bowl, similar to one in the Shoso-in. Fine use of even brushstrokes and representation of see-through glass. Painted in ink and colours on silk.
IMG


Comments:EnglishFrom Whitfield 1982:At first glance this handsome Bodhisattva, slightly aloof, restrained and dignified in pose, seems a far cry from the Vajrapāni of Pl. 58, but in fact the two are closely related in style and date, although they do not match exactly.The face of the Bodhisattva seems already to exhibit the kind of full-fleshed features that will be seen in the Song, if anything slightly masculine rather than the feminine ideal portrayed in the Tang. There is a remnant of colour shading around the eyes and neck, but the principal means of depiction are ink lines. Although much slenderer than the ink lines used for the Vajrapāni, when examined closely, for instance those of the nose and the outline of the face, they prove to be short and discontinuous blunt strokes of the brush, exactly parallel to the more exaggerated strokes of Pl. 58.In both figures much play is made of the knotted white scarves around the waist that fall to the lotus pedestals. These are in opaque and brilliant white, with very firm outer contours of ink. Other scarves in this painting use colour to obtain effects of transparency, and this interest is likewise seen in the rendition of the large dimpled bowl on his upturned right hand. Not only can parallels be found for this in the wall paintings (e.g., the transparent cintamani held by a Bodhisattva in Cave 15 at Wanfoxia, Lo Archive, no. 2445), but an actual example of such a glass bowl is to be found in the treasures of the Shōsō-in (Shōsō-in no garasu, Pl. 1), and it is similar to glass bowls excavated in Iran. It is not at all surprising that such precious examples from the trade along the Silk Road should have been incorporated into the iconography of Buddhist art at Dunhuang. ChineseFrom Whitfield 1982:此美麗的菩薩像，有略顯高傲、感情壓抑的威嚴姿態。乍一看，好像與圖58的金剛力士像相差甚遠，其實，兩者在風格和創作年代上都關係密切。 此菩薩的面部不是唐代崇尚的女性化風格，而是有某些男性風格，已經具備了宋代像的豐潤容貌。眼睛周圍以及脖頸還能辨出色彩暈染的痕迹，而基本用墨線描繪。此像的墨線比圖58的金剛力士像還細，詳細觀察則發現，如鼻線和臉部輪廓線等不是一筆拉下來的，而是運用了短筆連接的方法，同一筆法，在圖55的金剛力士像的描繪上更爲誇張。 兩個像的白色綬帶效果都非常好，塗著不透明的亮白色，用墨將輪廓清楚的描出，打結的綬帶纏在腰閒，之後垂到蓮花座上。爲顯示天衣的透明感，在色彩上下了功夫。朝上反轉的右手掌捧著的大琉璃缽的表現，也可窺出在刻意顯示透明感。在壁畫中也能見到與此類似的透明器物的描繪（例如，萬佛峽第15窟裏，有手持透明淨瓶的菩薩。參照羅寄梅No.2445）。另外，在正倉院的御物（參照『正倉院のガラス』圖版1）和伊朗出土品中可見玻璃碗的實物。因此，敦煌佛教圖像中，採納這些絲綢之路交易往來的貴重物證，也不足爲奇。