If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
The horizontal folio from a Kalpasutra manuscript consists of seven lines of text to the left and center broken by a squarish gold symbol framed in a red line and cusped blue lines. Gold diamond shapes framed in red are at the sides, with a vertical red line between the one on the left and the text. Between the text and the right diamond shape there is a painting consisting of three registers of figures against a red ground. The top row depicts three laymen wearing crowns, the middle two monks and a nun and the bottom row three nuns.
Subject Matter
Some of the earliest Indian paintings on paper are found in manuscripts of the Kalpasutra, a popular text that recounts the lives the jinas or “spiritual victors” of the Jaina religion. The paper was cut into horizontal pages, following a long tradition of palm-leaf manuscripts. In paper as in earlier palm leaf books, loose-leaf pages were flipped, bottom to top, as one read them; the verso (back or reverse side) of one folio would be seen with the recto (front side) of the following page.
Here monks and nuns sit in rows offering homage to one of the jinas or a teacher, who probably was depicted on the preceding folio. The convention of depicting the faces in profile with a projecting “further eye” is common in early painting throughout northern India. It is only in the early sixteenth century that this “further eye” disappears. This manuscript page is the earliest painting in the exhibition.
Label Copy
March 28, 2009
Indian book arts originated in the form of paintings on palm leaves secured between wooden covers. Leaves were pierced in one or two places to allow a cord to be threaded through and bound around the covers. Early manuscripts made from paper, such as this one, preserved the horizontal shape of palm leaf manuscripts but increasingly expanded in format to provide a taller, less restrictive surface. The ubiquitous red ground of earlier palm-leaf manuscript paintings remains, but the chromatic range is extended by the introduction of gold and ultramarine. Golden orbs mimic the perforation holes traditionally provided for the binding cord, though no holes have been made. Here, they are purely decorative, referencing the conventions of a sacrosanct format. Such continuity is particularly appropriate for this canonical text, a copy of the Kalpasutra (Book of Ritual), which provides an extended biography of Mahavira and establishes his historical position as the twenty-fourth tirthankara.
(Label for UMMA South and Southeast Asia Gallery Opening Rotation, March 2009)
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
Leaf from a Kalpasutra manuscript with calligraphic text. Font size varies, and in the center of the leaf text wraps around a blank box of parchment with a red dot in the center. To the left of this main text block is a colorful illustration of an enthroned figure in a dotted robe flanked by devotees. Surrounding him are various auspicious symbols.
Subject Matter
The Kalpasutra, which recounts the lives of the jinas, is a popular text of the Shvetambara sect of Jainism. Commissioning illuminated manuscripts was one way for a Jaina layperson to accrue religious merit, and Shvetambara temple libraries house many copies of manuscripts, embellished with exquisite paintings done in expensive pigments.
Label Copy
The Kalpasutra, which recounts the lives of the jinas, is a popular text of the Shvetambara sect of Jainism. Commissioning illuminated manuscripts was one way for a Jaina layperson to accrue religious merit, and Shvetambara temple libraries house many copies of manuscripts, embellished with exquisite paintings done in expensive pigments.
This is the second folio of the Kalpasutra, and the enthroned figure seen here would have faced a depiction of a Jina. Variously read as Mahavira dressed as a monk or as Gautama, his chief disciple, the figure is surrounded by devotees and auspicious symbols. Although Shvetambara monks normally wear white garments, in early manuscripts the robes of the jinas and their disciples are often depicted with dotted or striped patterns. The overall richness of the image, including the lavish use of gold, testifies to the wealth of the donor.
Exhibited in "Divine Encounters, Earthly Pleasures: Twenty Centuries of Indian Art," 12/12/03-2/22/04.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
A surplice (asquare robe of patched brocade), worn by high-ranking Buddhist monks. This example is Japanese, but the same type of surplice is found in Chinese and Korean Buddhist traditions.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
A portable painting, with gouache pigments on sized cotton, bordered by three strips of Chinese brocade. The painting is designed to be rolled up when not in use.
Subject Matter
This painting is a diagrammatic representation of the transmission of teachings within the Gelugpa School of Tibetan Buddhism. Tsongkhapa (1357 - 1419), the founder of the school, wearing the Gelugpa yellow hat and flanked by two lotus blossoms, is seated at the heart of a vast array of figures. Below him, forming the mountain on which he sits, are row upon row of the meditational deities revered by the school, including Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and deified lamas (teachers), as well as the fierce ‘dharmapala’ deities (protectors of the faith). At the side, seated in large numbers on billowing clouds, are teachers in the Gelugpa lineage. The ascetic figures at the top center, above Tsongkhapa, represent famous Indian mahasiddas, yogis who have mastered tantric teachings.
There are many variants of such lineage diagrams among the schools of Tibetan Buddhism. They type is known by many names, including “Assembly Tree,” “Merit Field,” “Refuge Field,” or “Field of Accumulation”; in Tibetan, the generic term is “tsog shing.”
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
9.5 cm x 4 cm x 3.6 cm (3 3/4 in. x 1 9/16 in. x 1 7/16 in.)
Label Copy
"Lohan" is the Chinese name for a Buddhist ascetic. Chia-yeh's aged, emaciated body indicates this austerity. The oldest and ugliest disciple, he is usually represented flanking a figure of Buddha, opposite Ananda, the youngest and most handsome disciple.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
Circular tsuba, made of iron. It has two holes in the middle. Two figures, Kanzan and Jittoku, are carved on the lower right corner. Kanzan, who holds a scroll on his hand, and Jittoku, who holds a bloom stick and pointing to the sky, are looking upward. The two figures are carved slightly higher than the surface. On the back, there is the moon partially obscured by clouds. Gold and silver alloy inlays are applied to the moon and the clouds. Gold is also inlayed in their eyes, parts of the garments, and Kanzan's scroll. Shakudô (copper-gold alloy) is inlayed in Jittoku's bloom and his jacket collars.
Subject Matter
Kanzan and Jittoku are Taoist eccentrics of whom little is known, but they are frequently represented (almost always together) in East Asian arts. Both lived in the monastery of Kuo Ching, spending most of their time in the kitchen, and speaking a gibberish unintelligible to anyone, resenting visitors, and noticing them only with insults. Kanzan holds a scroll, which he expounds to Jittoku, who stands by leaning on his broom. Both have a dwarfed and somewhat boyish appearance, but Kanzan's face is furrowed by age. (Reference: Edmunds, Will H. Pointers and Clues to the Subjects of Chinese and Japanese Art).
Label Copy
Tsuba are intended to protect the user’s hand, first by shielding it against a blow from the opponent’s blade, and second by preventing it from slipping onto the razor-sharp edge of the weapon being wielded. Until the early seventeenth century, simply designed iron tsuba were dominant, as seen in the example here bearing a mushroom motif. When the Tokugawa regime required samurai warlords to travel regularly to the capital, Edo, and mandated that their wives and children reside there, considerations of urban fashion became more influential than battlefield practicalities in samurai attire and accessories. The tsuba became more an object of display than a functional item—a trend that further intensified when affluent merchants were permitted to carry swords in public and also began to demand attractive tsuba.
As is well represented by this collection, there was great artistic creativity at play in tsuba-making during the Edo period. The newly developed shakudô (a copper–gold alloy of a lustrous purple–black color) was used to create relief designs. Openwork chiseling was a versatile method for creating dramatic representations of family crests or light, airy, and elegant plant motifs.
(Label for UMMA Japanese Gallery Opening Rotation, March 2009)
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
In this intensely lyrical painting from Bundelkhand in Central India, the great river is shown tumbling from the night sky. Ascetics sit cross-legged on the mountainside, offering their austerities to Shiva, while women come to venerate Ganga. The river teems with life—crocodiles, turtles, fish, and birds—while lions, leopards, jackals, monkeys, and rabbits cavort on its banks.
Subject Matter
According to an ancient legend, the goddess Ganga (the personification of the River Ganges) once dwelt in heaven, and the earth suffered from drought. Through the prayers of Bhagiratha, the gods agreed to allow Ganga to descend to earth, but that brought about another crisis: if Ganga were to fall unimpeded, the force of the mighty river could destroy the earth. Bhagiratha then performed penances to seek the aid of the powerful Hindu god Shiva, who responded by catching Ganga in his densely matted locks of hair to break her fall.
Label Copy
According to an ancient legend, the goddess Ganga (the personification of the River Ganges) once dwelt in heaven, and the earth suffered from drought. Through the prayers of Bhagiratha, the gods agreed to allow Ganga to descend to earth, but that brought about another crisis: if Ganga were to fall unimpeded, the force of the mighty river could destroy the earth. Bhagiratha then performed penances to seek the aid of the powerful Hindu god Shiva, who responded by catching Ganga in his densely matted locks of hair to break her fall.
In this intensely lyrical painting from Bundelkhand in Central India, the great river is shown tumbling from the night sky. Ascetics sit cross-legged on the mountainside, offering their austerities to Shiva, while women come to venerate Ganga. The river teems with life—crocodiles, turtles, fish, and birds—while lions, leopards, jackals, monkeys, and rabbits cavort on its banks. It is as if Ganga has restored life to the entire world.
Exhibited in "Divine Encounters, Earthly Pleasures: Twenty Centuries of Indian Art," 12/12/03-2/22/04.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
