Period:Tang dynasty Production date:751-850 (circa)
Materials:silk, 絲綢 (Chinese),
Technique:painted
Subjects:lokapala 天王 (Chinese)
Dimensions:Height: 60 centimetres Width: 18.50 centimetres
Description:
Painting of a lokapala (guardian king) in light armour, stepping forward on cloud. Unusual in that the lokapala’s features are entirely human. Ink and colour on silk.
IMG
![图片[1]-painting; 繪畫(Chinese) BM-1919-0101-0.126-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/Tang dynasty/Paintings/mid_00000121_001.jpg)
Comments:EnglishFrom Whitfield 1982:In several ways this Lokapāla is rather different from the majority of those in the collection, and may perhaps be dated somewhat earlier than the rest. The figure is entirely human, without the demonic attributes of most of the guardian kings. He steps lightly forward on a cloud, with slender figure and light armour. The face is very carefully delineated in ink and shaded in pink, the hands likewise and clasped together in añjali-mudrā. He wears no helmet, but the collar of his coat of mail, apparently of stiffened leather coloured blue outside and red inside, rises high to protect the neck. Beneath the oblong leather scales of the coat, an undergarment of red splendidly embroidered with large flowers can be seen. Other flowers, arranged as florets with four circular petals on the arms of a cross, can be seen on the sleeves and lower part of the skirt. This floral pattern was done in white with yellow petals. White was used as the final colour in the painting. It has survived particularly well where it has been applied over another colour, for example the white lines on the blue leather edging to the armour, and over the orange inner edges of the same. Where the same white was merely applied straight onto the silk, it has practically all come away. Only a few scales on the greave of the right leg show that originally all the leather scales of the armour were bright white, with the vertical edges of each scale in ink and the horizontal overlaps in blue like the leather edgings.Of considerable interest is the fact that at the bottom of the painting the artist has experimented with sketches of three faces in three-quarter view, two of them in red outline alone, the largest in ink with a little colour added to the lips. ChineseFrom Whitfield 1982:此天王像有很多方面與該收集品中的大部分天王像存在差別，大概年代也比那些作品稍早。此像的外觀完全是一個普通人物，沒有大多天王像所具備的魔神特點。像的瘦身裹以輕的鎧甲，輕盈地走在雲上。臉用墨線描出，賦了粉色暈。以同樣手法描出的兩手，結著合掌印。沒有戴盔，而是把鎧甲的領子立的很高保護著脖子。領子是硬皮革，表層是青色，裏層染成紅色。沒有長方形鱗片的鎧下，露出刺繡精美的大花紋紅色內衣。袖和衣裙是用白和黃色描出的十字形四瓣花的另一種小花紋樣。白色是最後塗上的，特別是重疊於其他顔色上的部分，如鎧甲邊緣的青色革和鎧甲裏子的橙色邊緣上描的白色，很多保留下來。同樣的白色，直接塗在絹上的部分卻已基本脫落。但右腳脛骨的一部分白色仍保留至今。可以窺見鎧甲原來所有的鱗片是美麗的白色，每一片的豎線是用墨色，橫線用和鎧甲邊緣相同的青色勾勒出來的。有趣的是，畫面最下邊有畫家試畫的三個草圖。其中兩個只用朱線，另一最大草圖則用墨線描繪，唇上稍加顔色。
Materials:silk, 絲綢 (Chinese),
Technique:painted
Subjects:lokapala 天王 (Chinese)
Dimensions:Height: 60 centimetres Width: 18.50 centimetres
Description:
Painting of a lokapala (guardian king) in light armour, stepping forward on cloud. Unusual in that the lokapala’s features are entirely human. Ink and colour on silk.
IMG
Comments:EnglishFrom Whitfield 1982:In several ways this Lokapāla is rather different from the majority of those in the collection, and may perhaps be dated somewhat earlier than the rest. The figure is entirely human, without the demonic attributes of most of the guardian kings. He steps lightly forward on a cloud, with slender figure and light armour. The face is very carefully delineated in ink and shaded in pink, the hands likewise and clasped together in añjali-mudrā. He wears no helmet, but the collar of his coat of mail, apparently of stiffened leather coloured blue outside and red inside, rises high to protect the neck. Beneath the oblong leather scales of the coat, an undergarment of red splendidly embroidered with large flowers can be seen. Other flowers, arranged as florets with four circular petals on the arms of a cross, can be seen on the sleeves and lower part of the skirt. This floral pattern was done in white with yellow petals. White was used as the final colour in the painting. It has survived particularly well where it has been applied over another colour, for example the white lines on the blue leather edging to the armour, and over the orange inner edges of the same. Where the same white was merely applied straight onto the silk, it has practically all come away. Only a few scales on the greave of the right leg show that originally all the leather scales of the armour were bright white, with the vertical edges of each scale in ink and the horizontal overlaps in blue like the leather edgings.Of considerable interest is the fact that at the bottom of the painting the artist has experimented with sketches of three faces in three-quarter view, two of them in red outline alone, the largest in ink with a little colour added to the lips. ChineseFrom Whitfield 1982:此天王像有很多方面與該收集品中的大部分天王像存在差別，大概年代也比那些作品稍早。此像的外觀完全是一個普通人物，沒有大多天王像所具備的魔神特點。像的瘦身裹以輕的鎧甲，輕盈地走在雲上。臉用墨線描出，賦了粉色暈。以同樣手法描出的兩手，結著合掌印。沒有戴盔，而是把鎧甲的領子立的很高保護著脖子。領子是硬皮革，表層是青色，裏層染成紅色。沒有長方形鱗片的鎧下，露出刺繡精美的大花紋紅色內衣。袖和衣裙是用白和黃色描出的十字形四瓣花的另一種小花紋樣。白色是最後塗上的，特別是重疊於其他顔色上的部分，如鎧甲邊緣的青色革和鎧甲裏子的橙色邊緣上描的白色，很多保留下來。同樣的白色，直接塗在絹上的部分卻已基本脫落。但右腳脛骨的一部分白色仍保留至今。可以窺見鎧甲原來所有的鱗片是美麗的白色，每一片的豎線是用墨色，橫線用和鎧甲邊緣相同的青色勾勒出來的。有趣的是，畫面最下邊有畫家試畫的三個草圖。其中兩個只用朱線，另一最大草圖則用墨線描繪，唇上稍加顔色。
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![[Qing Dynasty] British female painter—Elizabeth Keith, using woodblock prints to record China from the late Qing Dynasty to the early Republic of China—1915-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/image-191x300.png)
