painting; 繪畫(Chinese) BM-1919-0101-0.25

Period:Tang dynasty Production date:826-875 (circa)
Materials:silk, 絲綢 (Chinese),
Technique:painted
Subjects:bodhisattva lotus willow 菩薩 (Chinese) 蓮花 (Chinese) 供養人 (Chinese) 柳枝 (Chinese)
Dimensions:Height: 101.60 centimetres Width: 58.50 centimetres

Description:
Painted figure of Avalokiteśvara. He holds a willow spray in his right hand and a water vase in the left, from which issues a spray with lotus buds and leaves. On the bottom right are two kneeling female donor figures, each holding a lotus. Ink and colour on silk.
IMG


Comments:EnglishFrom Whitfield 1982:Although very much faded, this painting of the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara is very well painted and surely belongs to the ninth century. The Bodhisattva holds a willow spray in the right hand and a water vase in the left; from this vase there issues a tall waving spray with lotus buds and leaves, as well as small pairs of opposing leaves of a completely different kind. Clearly the artist had no personal knowledge of the appearance of a real lotus, or was more concerned to echo in his depiction the graceful benevolence of the figure in the sinuous curves of the stem. New leaves and flower buds succeed each other very much as successive landscape scenes were placed one above another in the side scenes to paradise paintings.The Bodhisattva is seen full face, the body swaying slightly to his left, so that the left shoulder is brought slightly forward. All pigment has faded from the face, leaving only the ink lines contouring the main features. Behind the “parent” figure of Amitābha in the headdress, the twin branches of the topknot are seen; The rest of the hair falls behind the shoulders, with fanciful upturned locks here and more substantial swelled ends at elbow level. In this it is rather similar to Pl.13, but the stole, originally purple with a green lining, is narrower and reveals part of the upper left arm; beneath it is a red sash, rather than an underrobe, so that the lower torso is again partly exposed. The rippling edges of the stole, looped up near the shoulders and falling over the right arm or open to reveal the left, all display a lively appreciation of space and movement that can be contrasted with the stiffer formalization of the same motifs in, for example, Stein painting 22(Vol.2, Pl.3).At the lower right of the painting kneel two female donors, each holding a lotus (Fig.37). They too are of early or mid-ninth century type, to judge by the simple hairstyles. The painting has lost a certain amount at the bottom, as well as its borders, but appears to be almost complete at the sides and top. The cartouche in the upper left corner, like that in Pl.13, was left uninscribed. ChineseFrom Whitfield 1982:此觀世音菩薩像褪色嚴重卻是一件傑作，確實是9世紀的作品。菩薩右手持柳枝，左手提淨瓶，彎彎曲曲的長莖從瓶口伸出，莖上除蓮花蕾和葉子外，其他都是別類植物的小對葉。繪此畫的畫家也許沒見過真正的蓮花，也許是著意體現觀音的慈悲普及到彎曲的長莖。本幅畫中的樹葉和花蕾與淨土變相圖常常在邊緣繪製的連續山水畫非常場相像。菩薩面朝前方，腰稍左扭，左肩往前突出幾分。面部顔色完全消失，僅存主要輪廓的線描。帶有化佛的寶冠的後面露出二個髮髻，頭髮垂於兩肩，並在肩部形成奇特的向上卷起的結，髮稍在肘的位置膨起。這髮型與圖13近似，而長衣當初是紫色，裏子爲綠色。其衣幅寬度大大縮小，露出部分左邊的小臂。長衣裏只穿著紅色帔帛，因此腹部也稍露在外。帔帛呈波浪形，柔和地從左肩懸落到右腕，剩餘的一部分搭在左臂上。這樣，此畫對動態和空間的處理使人感觉非常出色，比較而言，同一題材的繪畫，如斯坦因繪畫22（第2卷圖3），就顯得形式化而死板了。畫面右下方跪有持蓮花女供養人像二身（參見Fig.37）。她們髮型簡樸，可以判斷是9世紀初或中葉的作品。邊框和畫面下部殘損相当嚴重，上部和兩側卻保存較完整。左上角長方形榜題也和前圖的情況一樣是空白的。