Argus in China

Weer een vervolg op die mooie Gandhara-kunst.
Ik zag deze collectie in het Provincial Museum of Gansu in Lanzhou.

DSC07736ArgusInChinaLanzhouProvincialMuseumOfGansuFragmentOfACanopyDepictingFourKinnarasAmongLotus2nd-3rdCenturyPeshawarDistrictNationalMuseumOfPakistanKarachiGraySchist

China, Lanzhou, Provincial Museum of Gansu, Fragment of a canopy depicting four kinnaras among lotus, 2nd – 3rd century, Peshawar District, National Museum of Pakistan, Karachi, grey schist.

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DSC07738ArgusInChinaLanzhouProvincialMuseumOfGansuADonorFigureWithACandle2nd-3rdCenturySwatDistrictNationalMuseumOfPakistanKarachiSchistDSC07739ArgusInChinaLanzhouProvincialMuseumOfGansuADonorFigureWithACandle2nd-3rdCenturySwatDistrictNationalMuseumOfPakistanKarachiSchistTxt

A donor figure with a candle, 2nd – 3rd century, Swat District, National Museum of Pakistan, Karachi, schist.


DSC07740ArgusInChinaLanzhouProvincialMuseumOfGansuKissScene3rd-4thCenturyButkaraSwatDistrictSwatMuseumSoapStone

Kiss scene, 3rd – 4th century, Butkara, Swat District, Swat Museum, soap stone.

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DSC07742ArgusInChinaLanzhouProvincialMuseumOfGansuMonkHoldingALamp2nd-3rdCenturyPeshawarDistrictNationalMuseumOfPakistanKarachiSchistBhiksuDharmadeva'sStatue

Monk holding a lamp, 2nd – 3rd century, Peshawar District, National Museum of Pakistan, Karachi, schist. Op de voet staat: ‘Bhiksu Dharmadeva’s statue’.

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Wikipedia:

bhikṣu, commonly translated as “monk,” has at least three possible meanings:
(1) someone who begs;
(2) someone who has taken the highest level of Buddhist ordination; and
(3) someone who has destroyed mental afflictions.

DSC07744 01ArgusInChinaLanzhouProvincialMuseumOfGansuBenefactorWithcylindricalReliquary2nd-3rdCenturyGandharaDistrictSwatMuseumSchist

Benefactor with cylindrical reliquary, 2nd – 3rd century, Gandhara District, Swat Museum, schist.

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DSC07746 02ArgusInChinaLanzhouProvincialMuseumOfGansuLoveSceneAndVihara1st-2ndCenturyButragSwatDistrictSwatMuseumGreySchistDSC07746 01ArgusInChinaLanzhouProvincialMuseumOfGansuLoveSceneAndVihara1st-2ndCenturyButragSwatDistrictSwatMuseumGreySchist

Love scene and Vihara (Buddhist temple), 1st – 2nd century, Butrag, Swat District, Swat Museum, grey schist.

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DSC07748ArgusInChinaLanzhouProvincialMuseumOfGansuAmorinoTeasingALion2nd-3rdCenturyRamdasCollectionRawalpindiNationalMuseumOfPakistanKarachiGreySchist

Amorino (mythical figure) teasing a lion, 2nd – 3rd century, Ramdas Collection (een verzameling sculptures left by Shri Ramdas, an antique dealer of Rawalpindi who migrated to India in 1947), Rawalpindi, National Museum of Pakistan, Karachi grey schist. #notalion.

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De tekst is waarschijnlijk niet leesbaar. Daarom: The relief shows a male lion crouching on the ground with his head raised; an amorino is riding the lion mischievously. The French scholar Alfred Foucher described this image as ‘a statue of Eros on a lion in heat’. In Hesiod’s Theogoney, Eros os the primordial god born after Chaos, Gaia, and Tartarus, who inspired the fertility of the gods.


Wikipedia:

The Theogony i.e. “the genealogy or birth of the gods” is a poem by Hesiod (8th–7th century BC) describing the origins and genealogies of the Greek gods, composed c. 730–700 BC. It is written in the Epic dialect of Ancient Greek and contains 1022 lines. It is one of the most important sources for the understanding of early Greek cosmology.

Alfred Charles Auguste Foucher (1865–1952), was a French scholar, who argued that the Buddha image has Greek origins. He has been called the “father of Gandhara studies”,

Argus in China

DSC07722ArgusInChinaLanzhouProvincialMuseumOfGansuEarPendant1stCenturyBCSilkapTaxilaaxilaMuseumGold

China, Lanzhou, Provincial Museum of Gansu, Ear pendant, 1st century BC, Silkap, Taxila, Taxila Museum, gold. Bijzonder voorwerp. Een bloedzuiger, dat is de vertaling van het Engelse woord ‘leech’. Zou niet mijn eerste keuze zijn om er een oorbel van te maken maar het resultaat mag er zijn!

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DSC07724ArgusInChinaLanzhouProvincialMuseumOfGansuCultOfTheTriratna2nd-3rdCenturyTakht-i-BahiMardanDistrictPeshawarMuseumSchist

Cult of the Triratna, 2nd – 3rd century, Takht-i-Bahi, Mardan District, Peshawar Museum, schist. ‘Takht-i-Bahi’ is de naam van een Buddhistisch klooster.


Wikipedia:

The Triratna is a Buddhist symbol, thought to visually represent the Three Jewels of Buddhism (the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha).

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DSC07726ArgusInChinaLanzhouProvincialMuseumOfGansuCultOfTheRelicStupas2nd-3rdCenturyTakht-i-DahiMardanDistrictPeshawarMuseum

Het was een enorm geluk dat ik de kans had deze tentoonstelling te bezoeken. Het is voor mij weer een hele nieuwe iconografie. Cult of the relic stupas, 2nd – 3rd century, Takht-i-Bahi, Mardan District, Peshawar Museum.

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DSC07728ArgusInChinaLanzhouProvincialMuseumOfGansuWorshippingEnthronedTurbanOfSiddhartha2nd-3rdCentruryGandharaDistrictPeshawarMuseumSchist

Worshipping of the enthroned turban of Siddhartha, 2nd – 3rd centrury, Gandhara District, Peshawar Museum, schist. In plaats van Boeddha zelf af te beelden kun je ook een symbool dat nauw met hem verbonden is afbeelden, zoals zijn tulband. Dit is een gewoonte in meerdere religies.

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DSC07730ArgusInChinaLanzhouProvincialMuseumOfGansuTheBuddha'sDescentFromTheTrayastrimsa1st-2ndCenturyButkaraIMingoraSwatDistrictSwatMuseumGreenSchist

The Buddha’s descent from the Trayastrimsa, 1st – 2nd century, Butkara I, Mingora, Swat District, Swat Museum, green schist. Trayastrimsa is eenvoudig gezegd een van de 6 hemelse ruimtes in het Boeddhisme. De voetstappen onder aan de middelste ladder zijn die van Boeddha.

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DSC07732ArgusInChinaLanzhouProvincialMuseumOfGansuPrincelyFigureWithABunchOfLotusFlowers2nd-3rdCenturyIslamabadMuseumSchist

Princely figure with a bunch of lotus flowers, 2nd – 3rd century, Islamabad Museum, schist.

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DSC07734ArgusInChinaLanzhouProvincialMuseumOfGansuReliefWothADonor1st-2ndCenturyButkaraSwatDisctrictSwatMuseumSchist

Relief with a donor, 1st – 2nd century, Butkara, Swat Disctrict, Swat Museum, schist.

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