album; painting; 繪畫 (Chinese)

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album; painting; 繪畫(Chinese)

Object Type: album; painting; 繪畫 (Chinese)
Museum number: 1919,0101,0.177.1-3
Description: Three album leaves from pothi, painted on front and reverse, showing spirits with animal or bird heads (a bull, a deer, a cat and another feline creature, a crow and a rooster). There is a child with each spirit. Chinese and Khotanese inscriptions, one of which reveals that there were originally sixteen spirits in all. Ink and colour on paper.
Cultures/periods: Tang dynasty; 唐代 (Chinese)
Production date: 9thC
Excavator/field collector
Findspot: Excavated/Findspot: Cave 17, Ch.00217.a-c (from Cave 17 at Ch’ien Fo Tung (pinyin: Qian Fo Dong)); Excavated/Findspot: 第17窟 (Chinese)
Materials: paper; 紙 (Chinese)
Technique
Dimensions: Height: 33 centimetres; Width: 8 centimetres (each leaf)
$Inscriptions
Bibliographic references: Stein 1921a / Serindia: detailed report of archaeological explorations in Central Asia and Westernmost China (pp.978-979; vol.IV, pl.XCVI) (Ch.00217.a); Whitfield 1983 / Paintings from Dunhuang (pl.75); Whitfield & Farrer 1990 / Caves of the Thousand Buddhas. Chinese Art from the Silk Route (cat.no.69); Sørensen 1991/92 / Typology and Iconography in the Esoteric Buddhist Art of Dunhuang (p.295); Banerjee 2001 / Central Asian Art - New Revelations from Xinjiang (pp.67-73.); Maggi 1996 / A Chinese-Khotanese Excerpt from the Mahasahasrapramardani
Location: Not on display
Subjects: child; bird; spirit; 兒童 (Chinese); 鳥 (Chinese); 神靈 (Chinese); cat
Acquisition date: 1919
Acquisition notes: For full acquisition history, see 1919,0101,0.1.
Department: Asia
Registration number: 1919,0101,0.177.1-3
Additional IDs: Miscellaneous number: Ch.00217.a-c (Stein no.)

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