The Stein Collection
Head Fragment
6th century - 7th century (made)
6th century - 7th century (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This is a head fragment of a figurine. The hair raises straight from forehead and curls over like two horns above ears. The skin is more white than pink. The ears have short lobes. The prominent eyes are half-closed. The eyebrows are black. A dark red line encircles eye-socket above and below lids. The lips are painted in dark red. There is a red line under the chin. It was excavated from the remains of a Buddhist shrine at the site of Kara-Yantak between Khotan and Keriya in Xinjiang, China.
The Victoria and Albert Museum has more than 70 ceramic fragments and fragments of Buddhist sculptures, as well as around 600 ancient and medieval textiles recovered by Sir Marc Aurel Stein (1862-1943) during his second expedition (1906-8) into Chinese Central Asia, where he once again visited and excavated sites on the southern Silk Road, before moving eastwards to Dunhuang. At Dunhuang, he studied and excavated the Han-dynasty watchtowers to the north of the town, as well as the Mogao cave temples to the southeast, where he acquired material from the Library Cave. From there he moved on to the northern Silk Road, stopping briefly at Turfan sites but not carrying out any excavations. He made a perilous north-south crossing of the Taklamakan desert in order to hasten to Khotan where he excavated more ancient sites, before finishing off his expedition with surveying in the Kunlun Mountains.
The Victoria and Albert Museum has more than 70 ceramic fragments and fragments of Buddhist sculptures, as well as around 600 ancient and medieval textiles recovered by Sir Marc Aurel Stein (1862-1943) during his second expedition (1906-8) into Chinese Central Asia, where he once again visited and excavated sites on the southern Silk Road, before moving eastwards to Dunhuang. At Dunhuang, he studied and excavated the Han-dynasty watchtowers to the north of the town, as well as the Mogao cave temples to the southeast, where he acquired material from the Library Cave. From there he moved on to the northern Silk Road, stopping briefly at Turfan sites but not carrying out any excavations. He made a perilous north-south crossing of the Taklamakan desert in order to hasten to Khotan where he excavated more ancient sites, before finishing off his expedition with surveying in the Kunlun Mountains.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Title | The Stein Collection (named collection) |
| Materials and techniques | Painted clay |
| Brief description | Head fragment of a clay figurine, China. |
| Physical description | Head fragment of a figurine. The hair raises straight from forehead and curls over like two horns above ears. The flesh is more white than pink. The ears have short lobes. The prominent eyes are half-closed. The eyebrows are black. A dark red line encircles eye-socket above and below lids. The lips are painted in dark red. There is a red line under the chin. |
| Dimensions |
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| Credit line | Stein Loan Collection. On loan from the Government of India and the Archaeological Survey of India. Copyright: Government of India |
| Object history | Excavated at the site of Kara-Yantak. |
| Historical context | Kara-Yantak lies near Farhad-Beg-yailiki on the southern Silk Road. Here Stein found the remains of a Buddhist shrine, of which only the foundation beams and posts remained, along with chips of painted wood. His excavations revealed that it was similar in plan and decoration to the shrine at nearby Khadalik, which had flourished between the eight and tenth century AD. The scanty remains included fragments of sculptures, a wooden pothi, or religious document of Indian origin, covered with a Central Asian script and clay impressions of a bodhisattva on a lotus throne. Among the most significant finds were pieces of a wall mural, showing small, seated Buddha figures in a diaper pattern. The presence of a single Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) coin suggested that the settlement had been abandoned in the late eight century. There are a few fresco fragments from Kara-Yantak in the V&A Stein collection. |
| Production | from Kara-Yantak |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | This is a head fragment of a figurine. The hair raises straight from forehead and curls over like two horns above ears. The skin is more white than pink. The ears have short lobes. The prominent eyes are half-closed. The eyebrows are black. A dark red line encircles eye-socket above and below lids. The lips are painted in dark red. There is a red line under the chin. It was excavated from the remains of a Buddhist shrine at the site of Kara-Yantak between Khotan and Keriya in Xinjiang, China. The Victoria and Albert Museum has more than 70 ceramic fragments and fragments of Buddhist sculptures, as well as around 600 ancient and medieval textiles recovered by Sir Marc Aurel Stein (1862-1943) during his second expedition (1906-8) into Chinese Central Asia, where he once again visited and excavated sites on the southern Silk Road, before moving eastwards to Dunhuang. At Dunhuang, he studied and excavated the Han-dynasty watchtowers to the north of the town, as well as the Mogao cave temples to the southeast, where he acquired material from the Library Cave. From there he moved on to the northern Silk Road, stopping briefly at Turfan sites but not carrying out any excavations. He made a perilous north-south crossing of the Taklamakan desert in order to hasten to Khotan where he excavated more ancient sites, before finishing off his expedition with surveying in the Kunlun Mountains. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Other number | K.Y.I.002 - Stein number |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | LOAN:I A SURVEY.4 |
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| Record created | June 27, 2007 |
| Record URL |
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