MING DYNASTY (1368-1644)

Details

A VERY RARE 'THOUSAND BUDDHAS' SILK PANEL
MING DYNASTY (1368-1644)
Woven in shades of blue, green, peach, ochre and white, the panel is decorated with five rows of Buddhas divided by scrolling clouds. Each figure is surrounded by a mandorla and seated on a lotus throne with hands clasped in front of the chest.
26½ x 12¾ in. (67.3 x 32.4 cm.), mounted

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Lot Essay

This pattern of 'The Thousand Buddhas' is seen on a group of silk textiles of Liao through Ming date. It was also prominent in early Buddhist cave paintings found along the Silk Road, and can be seen preserved in cave sites such as Dunhuang. It was likely these paintings that provided the inspiration for the present group of textiles. See B. Gray, Buddhist Cave Paintings at Tun-Huang, Chicago, 1959, pl. 7, for a detail of a painting of 'The Thousand Buddhas' above a frieze of 'The Seven Buddhas of the Past', dated circa 500 and located in Cave 257. Compare, also, another silk panel of later Ming date illustrated by J. Simcox, Chinese Textiles, Spink & Son, London, 1994, no. 19.

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