painting; banner; 繪畫(Chinese); 幡(Chinese) BM-1919-0101-0.132

Period:Tang dynasty Production date:851-900 (circa)
Materials:silk, 絲綢 (Chinese),
Technique:painted
Subjects:vajra bodhisattva 金剛 (Chinese) 菩薩 (Chinese)
Dimensions:Height: 82 centimetres (Painted image) Height: 91.50 centimetres (Painting in mount) Width: 29.20 centimetres (Painted image) Width: 56 centimetres (Painting in mount)

Description:
Banner painted with Vajrapāṇi (thunderbolt bearer) standing on lotuses, holding a vajra. Striking musculature modelled in pink. Ink and colour on silk.
IMG


Comments:EnglishFrom Whitfield 1982:By its similar size and in features such as the ink outlines and colouring, this banner has to be seen as a match to the Bodhisattva with a glass bowl of Stein 139 (Pl. 56), and so provides a valuable point of reference between the two subjects. It is, however, unlikely to be from the same set, as the two paintings have different borders and are painted on silk of a slightly different weave.The painting has been the subject of an excellent article by Toshio Nagahiro (1964), who drew attention to the identical pose with flexed muscles, firmly planted heel and clenched toes, seen in a rubbing from the Qianxiang an 千祥庵 at Luoyang dated A.D. 700, and another Vajrapāni figure partially preserved at the Dayan ta (Great Gander Pagoda)大雁塔 in Xi’an, and of similar date. Both of these examples used continuous line contours, sensitively modelling the articulation of figural motifs such as the face or the knee. In this and similar paintings, on the other hand, short disconnected lines with considerable variation in width are used, attaining an exaggerated effect without bothering about the underlying forms. There can be no doubt about the popularity of the stance for such Vajrapāni. There are two fine sets of four, probably dating from the tenth century and executed in ink alone, in the British Museum and British Library (Vol.2, Figs. 93, 94). The same pose can be seen in the famous woodcut frontispiece to the Diamond Sutra dated A.D.868 (Vol.2,Fig. 144). Four grey silk damask streamers, now separately preserved, originally brought the total length of the banner to just over 2 metres. ChineseFrom Whitfield 1982:從墨線和色彩到尺寸和絹的顔色來看，該幡可能與圖56手持琉璃瓶的菩薩像極爲相配，兩者存在密切的關係。不過二者可能並非屬於一組圖像，因爲它們有不同的邊幅，所用絹布的織法也不同。長廣敏雄先生就此繪畫爲主題發表過優秀論文（1964年），其中先生注意到金剛腳尖緊繃，兩腳跟用力踏地。在久視元年（700年）紀年的洛陽千祥庵的拓本中也有與此相同姿勢的金剛力士像，在西安大雁塔裏也殘留了大致同時代的相同像的一部分。這兩個相同的例子中，描線順暢沒有停頓，像的臉和膝蓋等重點部位的描繪上精確地按照底稿的模型。與此相比，斯坦因收集品中的本圖以及類似的繪畫中，使用短的有間斷的綫，基本遵照底稿但進行肥瘦的改變，起到了誇張的表現效果。可以說這裏反映了有關金剛力士像流行。大英博物館和大英圖書館分藏的，大約爲10世紀的二組四塊墨繪的像（參照第2卷Fig.93、94），和有咸通九年（868年）紀年的《金剛經》的有名的封皮上的木版畫（參照第2卷Fig.144、145）中，也可見相同姿態的像。本幡原有的四條灰色絲緞幡腳與主幡分開保管，如果加上它們，該幡的長度會在2米以上。 Rawson 1992:Banner paintings from Dunhuang representing single Buddhist divinities are composed of triangular headpieces from which two streamers hang, the central rectangular portion usually bearing a single image soemtimes reproduced by stencil. Below this hang additional streamers. This painting is the central part of a banner whose triangular headpiece above and four grey silk streamers would have brought the original length of the banner to just over 2 metres. Banners such as this were carried in processions and hung from buildings.The short, highly inflected brush-strokes are reminiscent of the brushwork said to have been associated with the famous eight-century painter Wu Daozi; they contrast markedly with the thin flowing lines of Buddha and Bodhisattva figures elsewhere. The same network of modelling in pink is found on paintings of attendant and demonic figures at Dunhuang from this period.