banner; painting; 幡(Chinese); 繪畫(Chinese) BM-1919-0101-0.120

Period:Tang dynasty Production date:9thC
Materials:silk, 絲綢 (Chinese),
Technique:painted
Subjects:bodhisattva lotus vessel 菩薩 (Chinese) 蓮花 (Chinese) 器皿 (Chinese)
Dimensions:Height: 172.50 centimetres Width: 26.60 centimetres Depth: 0.70 centimetres

Description:
An extremely well preserved banner complete with triangular headpiece, streamers and weighting board. On the painted area is a bodhisattva, standing on a lotus, holding a glass beaker with a lotus blossom. Unusually, the bodhisattva is shown from the back, with the face in side-view. Below the figure are lines of scrolling leaves. Ink and colour on silk.
IMG


Comments:EnglishFrom Whitfield 1982:These are two of the best-preserved of the so-called banner paintings from Dunhuang, since they have survived almost complete, with headpieces, side and tail streamers and weighting boards.Taking first the Bodhisattva, and leaving aside the question of identification, which is not easily determined, it is interesting to consider the construction of such a banner, as it is in some respects different from that of the larger votive paintings. The painting itself, on a narrow piece of silk, comprises not only the figure but also a narrow ink border on either edge, a band of lozenges below and a painted valance above; these serve as a kind of frame. In this example the triangular headpiece was of a separate piece of silk, now perished or lost, with a pale pink border sewn on its outer edges. At the apex is the original hanging loop. Along the base of the headpiece, originally covered by the silk but now revealed, is a bamboo splint used as a stiffener. This is wound with scraps of red and blue coloured silk threads, running obliquely in opposite directions and so enabling the rest of the banner to be sewn onto it without risk of slipping. A similar piece of bamboo stiffens the lower end of the painting and from it in turn hang four silk streamers, each decorated with a single wavy stem with alternate leaves and flower buds. These are painted in silver. At the bottom all four streamers are fixed in a wooden board, by means of a slit in which they are held by another splint of bamboo. The board itself, coloured red, is similarly decorated in silver with a central flower flanked by leaves.Two side streamers are attached to the top stiffener so as partially to cover the edges of the painting. Their ends hang free. These ends are of grey silk, sewn onto a longer ribbon of green. As will be seen in Vol.3, scraps of silk were always saved and used as parts of votive materials at Dunhuang. Here there seems to be an aesthetic motive as well since the grey ends of the streamers correspond nicely with the beginning of the silver-decorated tail streamers, while the green part frames the painting.The Vajrapani banner has also the triangular piece of silk from the centre of the headpiece. The suspension loop has a red cord, also apparently original, inserted through it. The lower part consists of a single piece of indigo-dyed silk, with two slits cut almost to the top. The edges of the resulting three streamers have been rolled and finely sewn to prevent the silk fraying. The silk has a shiny appearance, and is also wavy, the latter due simply to long storage rolled round the weighting board. The board is decorated with three floral motifs.Such banners look very similar front and back, since the silk is of a single thickness and the painting can be seen from both sides. That they were meant to be so seen is easily shown since the triangular headpiece is frequently made from a folded square of silk, giving a double thickness and having a separate painting on each side. There are also a fair number of banners more cheaply made out of linen or paper, both of which were opaque: all of these are painted on both sides with similar figures (Vol.2, Pls.41-46). It is therefore likely that the paintings were not hung on a wall but in some place where they could twist and turn freely. In fact the wall paintings show banners hanging from the tops of pagodas or high canopies (e.g., Cave 220, see Flying Devis, 1980,Pl.52); and on occasion, as in two of the Stein paintings showing the Bodhisattva Guide of Souls (Vol. 2,Pls. 9, 10), the banner is hanging from a hook at the top of a staff. Such a hook is actually mentioned in the inscription to Stein painting 216 (Vol. 2, Pl.32), one of the banners of exceptional length, dated A.D.956; the donor “respectfully (caused to be) painted this forty-nine feet banner in one strip. This banner suspended on high from a dragon hook … twisting about and flapping in the wind like a bird in flight, like the coloured [hangings] in the Western Apartments of the Palace.”(Waley, 1931,p.187.)Because it has survived almost intact, this banner has already been presented in Pl.28 to introduce the construction of banner paintings. Here it is interesting to note the way in which the painter has approached the problem of showing a figure from the back. The main part of the figure is in three-quarter back view, much as the Bodhisattva of Pl. 49, but with the head turned even further and seen in profile. As occasionally in other Dunhuang paintings, the side view of the face presents a single outline from forehead to mouth, with the nose seen beyond this. The rear view of the shoulders also enables us to see how the hair, seen framing the shoulders of very many Bodhisattvas, divides at the neck into two large locks, falling from a chignon behind the tiara. Other details of the painting similarly reveal the disposition of the robes. The long white scarf in front, so prominent in many of the banners (such as Pl. 56) is just visible, draped over the lotus petals.The Bodhisattva holds a glass beaker, evidently moulded and cut in large dimples in the same fashion as that held by the Bodhisattva of Pl. 56, but with an everted instead of an incurved lip, and containing a lotus blossom. Such glass vessels, as explained in the notes to Pl. 56, were probably imports from Iran. ChineseFrom Whitfield 1982:這是敦煌幡畫中保存最完好的其中兩幅，它們的幡頭、邊、幡尾和最下端的墜板都完全保留下來。首先看菩薩幡，把菩薩不易考證的身份放在一邊不說，來考察幡畫的構造是很有趣的，因爲它有些細節不同于大的還願畫。這個畫在一條狹窄的絹帶上畫像，不僅有菩薩像，兩側還有細細的墨色的鑲邊，下邊綴加菱形花紋帶，上邊是著色的短帷幔，起到了邊欄的作用。在這個樣品中，三角形幡頭外沿縫著粉色邊布，是單獨的一塊絹，現在已經毀壞或遺失了。在三角形的尖上是原來的吊環，在幡頭的基部是一個用作加固物的竹夾板，原來覆蓋著絲織品，現在已經露出來了。有一個裂口帶著染成紅色和藍色的絲綫，斜著滑到了相反的方向，所以使幡旗可以被縫在上面以免滑落。一個同樣的竹板加固了畫的底座，從那裏依次垂下了四條絲帶，每條絲帶上裝飾著一個單獨的波浪形的杆莖，其上交替排列著樹葉和花蕾。這些都畫在絲織品上，在幡尾，全部絲帶被固定在一個木板上，木板本身被漆成紅色，同樣附有銀飾—葉子包圍著中心的花朵。兩邊的絲帶系在頂部的加固物上，所以部分地遮住了畫的邊緣，它們的尾部是灰色的絲織品，沒有挂任何東西，被縫在一個較長的綠絲帶上。就像即將Vol.3中看見的那樣，在敦煌壁畫中，絲織碎片，常常節約下來用作還願的部分材料。這裏似乎也帶有美學的目的，因爲絲帶的灰色尾部很好的和銀裝飾的絲帶尾部開始部分相配，同時綠色部分框住了圖畫。金剛力士像的幡頭中央同樣也失去了三角形的那塊絲織品，吊環中插著一個紅帶，很明顯也是原來的，其下部是一片單獨的藍靛染的絲綢，鉸開兩個口，形成了三個下垂的帶子，卷起來以防止零亂，絲綢的外表閃光，幷總是波浪形的，後者只是簡單地因爲長期地卷在一塊重木板上保存而導致的。這塊木板裝飾以三個花紋。這樣的幡的正反面看起來非常相似，因爲絲綢只有一層，兩面都可以看見圖像，它們刻意被設計成容易看見，因爲三角形的頭幡由折叠的絲織品製成，具有雙層的厚度幷且每一面都是不同的畫面。還有很多的幡畫製作廉價，由亞麻布或紙製成，它們都是不透光的：兩面的圖案是相同的，(Vol. 2,Pls,41-46).這是因爲這些幡畫幷不是懸挂在墻上，在有些地方它們能够捲起來或自由翻動，事實上壁畫顯示幡畫懸掛在寶塔頂部和高的華蓋(例如：220窟，敦煌飛天，1980，Pl 52)；甚至象斯坦因收藏的兩幅畫中的《引路菩薩圖》(Vol.2 Pls. 9, 10)那樣，幡畫從某個物體頂部的勾子上懸掛下來。這樣的勾子在斯坦因收藏的畫216中已經被提到—該畫繪于西元956年，它的長度超乎想像，捐獻者分別在一條帶子上繪出了這個49英尺長的幡畫。這個幡畫從一個龍形的鈎子上垂下來，在風中捲曲、飄轉，就像鳥兒在飛翔，像西宮的彩色懸挂物一樣，(Waley, 1931,p. 187.)。此幡基本保留了完整的原型，爲了介紹整體结构，已經在圖28中展示。這裏再次舉出此圖，是想把目光转向畫家描绘像的背面所採用的手法上。圖中的菩薩為四分之三身的背面像，與圖49的菩薩像相似，但頭部還要向后，露出臉的側面。它采用了從額到嘴一筆绘出，其侧向露出鼻子的表现手法，在其他敦煌畫中有時也可看到這種手法。兩肩部分展示的也是背部，所以可看清在其他繪畫中常見的覆蓋菩薩兩肩的頭髮，實際上是從寶冠後面的髮髻垂落的，在頸項處分成兩大缕。其他細節部分，也顯現出了衣服的表現。在多數幡畫中明顯的長而白的綬帶（例如，參照下一圖的菩薩像），在此畫中仅仅搭在蓮華座上。 此菩薩右手持琉璃缽，與下一圖菩薩所捧的器皿一樣有大波紋的彫飾。只是器形不像下一圖那樣邊口內縮，而是向外側敞開，內插有蓮花蕾。這種玻璃容器，正如下一圖的解說中所述，大概是從伊朗引進的。 The Getty’s curatorial team suggests the title as Bodhisattva with Glass Bowl.