painting; 繪畫 (Chinese) | British Museum

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painting; 繪畫(Chinese)

Object Type: painting; 繪畫 (Chinese)
Museum number: 1919,0101,0.218
Description: Fragment now part of 1919,0101,0.37, together with 1919, 0101,0.218 and 1978,0626,0.1.a-e. Large, colourful painting of the Pure Land of Amitābha. The central Buddha is missing, but subsidiary groups of Amitābha with attendant bodhisattvas (Avalokiteśvara and Mahasthamaprapta) survive. Side scenes show illustrations from the Amitābha Sutra, with the story of King Bimbisara, Queen Vaidehi and their unfilial son, Prince Ajatasatru. Ink and colour on silk.
Production date: 10thC (Previously dated 8thC-9thC)
Production place: Made in: Dunhuang; Made in: 敦煌 (Chinese)
Excavator/field collector
Findspot: Excavated/Findspot: Cave 17, Ch.00216 (from Cave 17 at Ch’ien Fo Tung (pinyin: Qian Fo Dong)); Excavated/Findspot: 第17窟 (Chinese)
Materials: silk; 絲綢 (Chinese)
Technique
Dimensions: Height: 204 centimetres; Width: 183.50 centimetres
Bibliographic references: Stein 1921a / Serindia: detailed report of archaeological explorations in Central Asia and Westernmost China (pp.977-978); Stein 1921b / The Thousand Buddhas. Ancient Buddhist paintings from the cave-temples on the western frontier of China (pl.XXX); Whitfield 1982 / Paintings from Dunhuang (pl.19 and figs. 55-58); Whitfield 1989a / An Art Treasury of China and Mankind: Some Recent Studies on the Dunhuang Caves (p.39 and fig.11); Whitfield 2004a / Aurel Stein on the Silk Road (fig.52); Russell-Smith 2005 / Uygur Patronage in Dunhuang: Regional Art Centres on the Northern Silk Road in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries (pl.29-32); Russell-Smith 2015 / Representations of the Pure Land on the Northern Silk Road: Cultural Exchange and Regional Innovation
Location: Not on display
Subjects: buddha; bodhisattva; paradise; prince/princess; 佛 (Chinese); 菩薩 (Chinese); 淨土 (Chinese); 國王/王后 (Chinese); 王子/公主 (Chinese); king/queen; attendant
Associated names: Representation of: Amitābha/阿彌陀佛/Amida; Representation of: Avalokiteśvara/Guanyin/Kannon; Representation of: Mahāsthāmaprāpta; Representation of: King Bimbisara; Representation of: Queen Vaidehi; Representation of: Ajatasatru (阿闍世王); Representation of: 勢至菩薩; Representation of: 頻婆娑羅王; Representation of: 韋提希
Associated places: Associated with: Pure Land
Associated titles
Acquisition date: 1919
Acquisition notes: For full acquisition history, see 1919,0101,0.1.
Department: Asia
Registration number: 1919,0101,0.218
Additional IDs: Miscellaneous number: Ch.00216 (Stein no.)