banner; painting; 幡(Chinese); 繪畫(Chinese) BM-1919-0101-0.125.+

Period:Tang dynasty Production date:9thC
Materials:silk, 絲綢 (Chinese),
Technique:painted
Subjects:bodhisattva religious object 菩薩 (Chinese) 法器 (Chinese)
Dimensions:Height: 68.20 centimetres Width: 19 centimetres

Description:
Painted banner of a bodhisattva holding a censer, wearing a bright red shawl with floral half-circle designs. Cartouche filled with yellow floral spray. Use of stencil is evident in that painting OA 1919,0101,0.122 is indentical but in reverse pose. Ink and colour on silk.
IMG


Comments:EnglishFrom Whitfield 1982:The interest of the late Tang Buddhist painters in brilliantly decorative effects is at once apparent in this painting, particularly in the crimson V-shaped stole with its alternating half-florets of green and white. The effect was added to, though not in any systematic fashion, by the headpiece, now kept separately, part of which is of brilliant red silk damask.This banner is one of those that provide clear evidence for the use of stencils, since the Bodhisattva is identical, but in reversed pose, to that in Fig. 94. No doubt the fact that the outlines were obtained in this manner partly accounts for their unwavering precision. The figure of the Bodhisattva stands firmly; but the tassels of the canopy above are agitated in a manner more usually reserved to emphasise the sideways movement of Bodhisattvas such as Mañjusrī and Samantabhadra. Unusually also, the cartouche is here filled with a floral spray in yellow. Along with paintings such as the Bodhisattva of Pl.56, this banner must date from the later part of the ninth century. ChineseFrom Whitfield 1982:唐代佛教畫師在明亮裝飾效果方面的興趣，在這幅畫中立即變得明顯起來，尤其是交替出現綠色和白色半圓形花紋的赤紅色V字形天衣。現在被單獨存放的幡頭,其中一部分就是明亮的紅色綿緞製成的。此幡是那些爲運用印模提供明顯證據的幡畫的其中一個，因爲這個菩薩像與Fig.94的菩薩完全相同，只是上下顛倒了。毫無疑問用這種方法獲得的形狀部分地說明瞭它們毫無偏差的精確。菩薩像穩穩地立著，但華蓋上面的穗被吹動，在某種意義上更多地常常用于强調菩薩的左右運動，比如文殊菩薩和普賢菩薩。長方形題簽運用了較罕見的手法—用黃色花的螺旋來填充背景，對照圖56那樣的菩薩像的描繪手法，這個幡一定屬於9世紀後半期的作品。