拍品專文
Amitayus is known as the 'Buddha of Infinite Life' and the 'One who grants long life'.
The text may be translated as:
An Imperial verse, respectfully compiled: in praise of the Buddha of Infinite Life
He who lived for an eternity, for one hundred billion years on the blessings of his sincere followers. His incalculable merits helped him attain the enlightened ideal state. His powers are as great as the sun and the moon. His merits are boundless. His blessings are founded on inner peace and chastiy. His longstanding spirituality made him a saint in Heaven, and earned him infinite longevity. He is victoriously bathed in Heaven's generosity. This was created for the ceremony to celebrate his boundless virtues. Amitayus sits on a blue lotus, his robes arranged like rocks beneath him, as if he is seated on a mountain top
It has been noted that a technique of discontinuous supplementary weft had been used by the weaver to capture the details of the Buddha and to reproduce the imperial poem, op. cit., 2006, p. 76.
A very similar kesi panel, with the additional background details surrounding the figure of Amitayus and an inscription dating it to the Renwu year (1762), is the Beijing Palace Museum collection and illustrated in Embroidered Pictures, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2005, no. 110. From the catalogue description, the minute details of the Beijing panel is finely painted with ink, as is the present example. Comparing the Beijing hanging scroll and the present example, it is interesting to note the similarities in their stylistic composition and exquisite quality of workmanship. It is possible to conclude that the present scroll was most probably a special commission by the Imperial court and manufactured by the Jiangnan weavers before given as a gift to a specific temple.
The text may be translated as:
An Imperial verse, respectfully compiled: in praise of the Buddha of Infinite Life
He who lived for an eternity, for one hundred billion years on the blessings of his sincere followers. His incalculable merits helped him attain the enlightened ideal state. His powers are as great as the sun and the moon. His merits are boundless. His blessings are founded on inner peace and chastiy. His longstanding spirituality made him a saint in Heaven, and earned him infinite longevity. He is victoriously bathed in Heaven's generosity. This was created for the ceremony to celebrate his boundless virtues. Amitayus sits on a blue lotus, his robes arranged like rocks beneath him, as if he is seated on a mountain top
It has been noted that a technique of discontinuous supplementary weft had been used by the weaver to capture the details of the Buddha and to reproduce the imperial poem, op. cit., 2006, p. 76.
A very similar kesi panel, with the additional background details surrounding the figure of Amitayus and an inscription dating it to the Renwu year (1762), is the Beijing Palace Museum collection and illustrated in Embroidered Pictures, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2005, no. 110. From the catalogue description, the minute details of the Beijing panel is finely painted with ink, as is the present example. Comparing the Beijing hanging scroll and the present example, it is interesting to note the similarities in their stylistic composition and exquisite quality of workmanship. It is possible to conclude that the present scroll was most probably a special commission by the Imperial court and manufactured by the Jiangnan weavers before given as a gift to a specific temple.