ID: 700009004 Page link: http://vocab.getty.edu/page/cona/700009004	Record Type: Movable Work
Images: 1

Preaching Buddha / 說法千佛 (handscroll; unknown Tang dynasty (Early Tang); ca. 700; British Museum (London, Greater London, England, United King...; 1919,0101,0.254 (Ch.00421))

Note: Paper roll in two parts, in the format of a handscroll. In this handscroll, the Buddha is seated with his right hand raised in the abhaya mudra, the gesture of reassurance, while his left hand lies in his lap. There are leafy motifs on either side of his halo. Unusually for multiple impressions of this type, colour has been added to the images: orange-red for the robe, dull green for the centre of the halo and two tones of the same green for the lotus petals. The youthful appearance of the Buddha, seated with his right shoulder bare, marks this as a work of the late 7th century. The handscroll is nearly 3 metres long, similar in height to other scrolls with multiple impressions. But because the printer has used a larger size of woodblock, there are only two rows of Buddha figures.

Titles:

Preaching Buddha / 說法千佛 (preferred,C,U,RP,English-P,U,U,Chinese,U,U)

Scroll Printed with Repeating Buddha Images (C,U,DE,English,U,U)

千佛畫軸 (C,U,Chinese,U,U)

Catalog Level: item

Work Types:

handscroll [300178463] (preferred)

..... (Objects Facet, Visual and Verbal Communication (hierarchy name), Visual Works (hierarchy name), visual works (works), <visual works by material or technique>, paintings (visual works), <paintings by form>, scroll paintings)

Classifications:

prints (preferred)

Creation Date: ca. 700

Creator Display:

unknown Tang dynasty (Early Tang) [preferred]

artists unknown Tang (Tang cultural designation) [500204343]

Locations:

Current: British Museum (London, Greater London, England, United Kingdom) [500125180] Corporate Bodies (Corp. Body)

Repository Numbers: 1919,0101,0.254 (Ch.00421)

Other: Discovery: Qianfodong [7029798] Gansu province (province), China (nation), Asia (continent), World (facet) (Geographic)

Display Materials: Woodblock impressions, added ink and colours on paper

	ink [300015012]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by function>, coating (material), <coating by form>)

	color (pigment) [300264870]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by function>)

	paper (fiber product) [300014109]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by form>, <materials by physical form>, <fiber and fiber by product>, <fiber by product>)

	block printing (relief printing process) [300053289]
	.......(Activities Facet, Processes and Techniques (hierarchy name), <processes and techniques by specific type>, <image-making processes and techniques>, <printing and printing processes and techniques>, printing processes, relief printing processes)

Dimensions: 32.2 × 207.5 cm (12 11⁄16 × 81 11⁄16 in.) (sheet 1); 32.2 × 109 cm (12 11⁄16 × 42 15⁄16 in.) (sheet 2)

Cultures:

Chinese (preferred)

Style/Period/Group/Movement:

	Early Tang [300404617] (preferred,dynasty)
	.....(Styles and Periods Facet, Styles and Periods (hierarchy name), <styles| periods| and cultures by region>, Asian, East Asian, Chinese (culture or style), Chinese dynastic styles and periods, Tang (Chinese culture| style| period))

General Subject:

religion and mythology (preferred)

Specific Subjects:

	Seated Buddha [901001328]
	.....((Buddhist allegory, symbolism, theme, Buddhist iconography, Legend, Religion, Mythology)) (ICON)

	Buddha Preaching [901001358]
	.....((Buddhist allegory, symbolism, theme, Buddhist iconography, Legend, Religion, Mythology)) (ICON)

	abhaya mudra [300386135]
	.....(Associated Concepts Facet, Associated Concepts (hierarchy name), multidisciplinary concepts, body position, gesture, mudra) (AAT)

	repeated motif [300404803]
	.....(Associated Concepts Facet, Associated Concepts (hierarchy name), <concepts in the arts and humanities>, artistic concepts, formal concepts (artistic concept), <visual and representational concepts>) (AAT)

Provenance: Collected by: Sir Marc Aurel Stein; Acquisition date 1919 Exhibited: 2012 5th May - 29th July, New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 'The Printed Image in China' 5 May - 5 Sept 2010, London, The British Museum, The Printed Image in China 2016 7 May-4 Sep, Los Angeles, Getty Research Institute, Cave Temples of Dunhuang: Buddhist Art on China's Silk Road, (part A only)

Related Works:

	former location was .... Mogao Cave 17 [700008877]
	..........rock-cut temple; N/A; begun 9th century

List/Hierarchical Position:

..... Movable Works

.......... Movable Works by class: drawings, paintings, prints, other two-dimensional media

............... Works at Mogao

Sources and Contributors:
Preaching Buddha / 說法千佛	........ [VP]
	........ British Museum [online] (1999-)
Scroll Printed with Repeating Buddha Images	........ [VP]
	........ Agnew, Reed, Ball, Cave Temples of Dunhuang (2016) Cat 26
千佛畫軸	........ [VP]
	........ Agnew, Reed, Ball, Cave Temples of Dunhuang (2016)

Subject: ....... [VP]

....................... Agnew, Reed, Ball, Cave Temples of Dunhuang (2016) Cat 26

Note:
English	..... [VP]
	..... Agnew, Reed, Ball, Cave Temples of Dunhuang (2016) Cat 26
	..... British Museum [online] (1999-)