votive panel; 木板畫(Chinese) BM-1907-1111.70

Period:Unknown Production date:6thC (Whitfield 1985)
Materials:wood, 木 (Chinese),
Technique:painted
Subjects:mammal equestrian deity (?) 哺乳動物 (Chinese) 騎士 (Chinese) 神 (Chinese)
Dimensions:Height: 38.40 centimetres Width: 17.90 centimetres Depth: 1.50 centimetres

Description:
Rectangular wooden votive panel with an arched top, painted with ink and colours. Shown are two male figures, one in the upper portion and one in the lower portion, riding a horse and a camel respectively. The figure at the top wears a crown, while the one below wears a hat. They both have a halo around their head, wear a loose tunic and high boots, and hold a shallow bowl in their right hand. On the top left, there is a black raven or crow. It has been suggested that the bottom figure may represent the Camel God.
IMG


Comments:EnglishFrom Whitfield 1985:The theme of the aristocratic rider, holding a bowl or wine cup into which a bird appears to be diving, is a frequent one near Khotan, while the mounts themselves, here a dappled horse and a camel, suggest comparisons with, among others, the scroll with sketches of a tribute horse and camel (Vol. 2, Pl. 56) and indeed the large model of a horse from a grave at Astana (Pl. 91). A similar horse and rider, originally one of a series of riders on horses and camels, appears in the wall painting of the Sudhana jataka which Stein photographed in Shrine II at Dandan-oilik but was unable to remove, and which has always been counted as one of the masterpieces of Khotanese painting (see Andrews, 1948, Pl. XXXII).It has been suggested by Joanna Williams that the meaning of this theme may be provided by its association with Vaisravana on a painted wooden panel acquired from Khotan by Sir Clarmont Skrine and now in the British Museum (1925 6-19 25): in it the rider advances towards a standing figure of the Guardian King, and is accompanied by two black birds. Vaisravana had a special position as guardian of Khotan (cf. Vol. 2,Pl. 50), and the riders with birds may represent Khotan’s Turkish neighbours, following a legend in which one of Vaisravana’s yaksa attendants shot down Pekar, the tutelary hero of the Uighur Turks, when he had assumed the form of a bird of prey (Williams, 1973, pp. 151-52). In this case the figures in this panel would represent tributaries to Khotan.The reverse of this plaque is unpainted and has the remains of several wooden pegs by which it could be hung of fastened to the wall of the shrine. ChineseFrom Whitfield 1985:描绘貴族騎士手持碗或酒杯，有鳥飛下的題材，常見於和田附近地區。如果單講騎士乘用有斑點的馬或駱駝，則使想起墨畫淡彩的《馬•駱駝進貢圖》（參照第二卷圖56）及阿斯塔那古墓出土的大型馬俑（參照圖91）等作品。相似的馬和騎士還可在描绘“龍鼓池傳說”的和田壁畫中见到，斯坦因曾在丹丹烏里克第II寺址中，對其壁畫進行过拍攝，但没有采用。此壁畫常被作爲和田壁畫的代表作之一而被提起（參照Andrews《中亞壁畫》,1948,圖版XXXII）。有關這一主題的含義，據Joanna Williams所述，與Clarmont Skrine收集于和田，現藏于大英博物館的木板畫（1925 6－19 35）上所見的毘沙門天像有關。那幅木板畫中，繪有騎馬人物行向天王立像，還配有兩隻黑色的鳥。毘沙門天作爲于闐的保護神佔有特殊地位（參照第2卷圖50的解說），伴隨鳥的騎馬人物表現的是于闐鄰國的突厥人。據傳說，毘沙門天的侍者，討伐裝扮成餌食鳥的突厥回鶻族的守護神白哈爾（Pekar）（參照上述Williams論文，131～152頁）。如果是這樣，此木板畫則描繪的是于闐屬國的人物。其背面沒有繪畫，殘存數枚木釘，或為固定在寺院牆上之用。 The Department of Asia would like to thank Xanthe Carmichael for her help with updating the information on the site of Dandan-Uiliq.