table; religious/ritual equipment; 桌(Chinese); 法器(Chinese) BM-1907-1111.85

Period:Unknown Production date:1stC-4thC
Materials:wood, 木 (Chinese),
Technique:carved, 雕刻 (Chinese),
Subjects:stupa,flower 塔 (Chinese) 花 (Chinese)
Dimensions:Height: 60 centimetres Length: 67.80 centimetres Depth: 45 centimetres

Description:
Altar table made of poplar wood, consisting of four legs held together by panels which are tenoned into them (fragmentary). The upper part of the legs and the side panels are carved with flowers enclosed in square or rectangular frames and bordered by beaded bands. The front panel has a stupa bedecked with streamers in the centre flanked by two flowers.
IMG


Comments:EnglishFrom Whitfield 1985:The wooden furniture and remains of architectural decoration found by Stein at Niya on his first expedition closely resemble those uncovered on the second at Loulan near Lopnor (Figs. 29-33). Through this piece, preserved largely intact, we can form some idea of the way in which the panelling of the rooms was arranged. On the legs as well as the sides and ends, the decoration is divided into panels, often with beaded borders that correspond closely in motif to the larger panels from the ruined Buddhist shrine, Loulan B. II.The commonest motif here is the four-petalled flower, readily adapted to fill rectangular or square spaces, and seen here on the legs as well as flanking the central motif on the front panel, while at the ends (Fig. 70-a) the flower motif is split so as to fill one large and two much smaller triangles. On a large table or desk from Loulan (Fig.31), the motif is used in much smaller squares to cover the surfaces of both legs and side panels. The same motif was used to decorate part of the wall panelling in the Buddhist shrine L. B.II (Fig. 28).The front panel (Fig. 70-b) is of the most interest, since here the flowers flank a central motif, which is manifestly a Buddhist stupa garlanded and bedecked with streamers (although Stein thought it was a “pomegranate [?]”). Together with the eight-petalled lotuses that appear on the front legs, this leaves no doubt as to the Buddhist character of the frame, which was described by Stein as a chair but which seems altogether more likely to have been a small table, or even an altar. The tenons at the top of each leg would have secured a flat top, which, together with the back panel, is missing. All the panels are mortised into the legs and secured with dowels; there is an additional stretcher below each of the end panels. ChineseFrom Whitfield 1985:斯坦因第一次探險時，從尼雅發現的木製家具和帶裝飾的建築材料等，與第二次探險時從羅布泊附近的樓蘭遺迹發掘的物品（參照Figs.29－33）極其相似。本圖中的物品保存狀態非常好，通過它可以推測以同樣方式進行的室內裝飾及其結構。腿部和周圍的側板，紋樣都被分成若干單位，幾乎每一單位都用連珠紋圍起。這種處理酷似樓蘭B遺址第Ⅱ號寺址大板壁的紋樣。尼雅出土的木雕紋樣中，最多見的是四瓣花，嵌在長方形或正方形的區域中。本圖的作品，腿部配飾與前面提到的四瓣花是相同的內容。另外，兩側也使用同樣的內容，但這裏，卻是容在斜著隔開的大小三角形中（參照Fig.2）。樓蘭出土的大櫃（參照Fig.32）中上也有與此相同的內容，而腿和側板表面的則是在比這兒更小的四角形框中。再者，樓蘭B遺迹第Ⅱ號寺址的壁面裝飾的一部分也使用了與此相同的內容。前面的裝飾（參照Fig.70 b）中現還包含了一個很有意義的內容,就是夾在兩側花紋間的中心位置的花紋，斯坦因認爲它是石榴，其實是有著單純花飾和幡尾的佛塔。此佛塔主題，及腿部的八瓣蓮花，顯然使此物品有了佛教的色彩，雖然斯坦因曾將其記錄爲椅子，但考慮是小桌子或祭壇更爲合適。腳的上端有很多榫，曾被它支撐的桌面和背板未能保留下來。側板都被插在腿上的榫固定住了。左右側板的下邊，各裝有另外的材料。