Plaque
late 15th century (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
The pious king Dhammaceti (r.1472-1492) of Pegu built a series of temples to honour the life of the Buddha. The most distinguished was the temple complex of Shwegugyi, built in 1476. It was decorated with an extensive series of large-scale glazed tiles, many of which illustrated the demonic warriors of Mara's army, who were sent to disrupt the Buddha's meditation immediately prior to his Enlightenment. This tile, with owl-headed figures bearing swords, is typical of this series.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Glazed stoneware |
| Brief description | Tile Depicting the Warriors of Mara, Glazed stoneware, Pegu, Burma, late 15th century |
| Physical description | Tile depicting the warriors of Mara. The pious king Dhammaceti (r.1472-92) of Pegu built a series of temples to honour the life of the Buddha. The most distinguished was the temple complex of Shwegugyi, built in 1476. It was decorated with an extensive series of large-scale glazed tiles, many of which illustrated the demonic warriors of Mara's army, sent to disrupt the Buddha's meditation immediately prior to his Enlightenment. This tile, with owl-headed figures bearing swords, is typical of this series. |
| Dimensions |
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| Gallery label |
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| Credit line | Given by Mr. Cyril Newman |
| Object history | Gifted by Cyril Newman. |
| Historical context | An illustration of similar plaques is given in pl. 10 of "Note of a tour in Burma in March and April 1892" by Oertel, Rangoon, 1893. The caption states that they belong to the "Phayre Museum" (Rangoon) and that they are probably from Pegu. A similar plaque is in the B.M. Both are illustrated in "Notes on Antiquities in Ramamadesa" by Sir Richard Camac Temple (in Indian Antiquary, 1893 Dec. Vol XII). From a series probably from the Shwegugyi Pagoda, Pegu and thus possibly, 15th century. Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, has four more of this series, given by Richard Temple. |
| Production | Possibly from the Shwegugyi temple, Pegu, Burma. |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | The pious king Dhammaceti (r.1472-1492) of Pegu built a series of temples to honour the life of the Buddha. The most distinguished was the temple complex of Shwegugyi, built in 1476. It was decorated with an extensive series of large-scale glazed tiles, many of which illustrated the demonic warriors of Mara's army, who were sent to disrupt the Buddha's meditation immediately prior to his Enlightenment. This tile, with owl-headed figures bearing swords, is typical of this series. |
| Bibliographic reference | John Lowry " Burmese Art" Pl.21
B,M. Catalogue- Buddhism " Art and Faith"; 1985; pp 164; Pl.226.
John Guy " Ceramic Traditions of South East Asia" Singapore, Oxford University Press, 1989. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | IS.2-1966 |
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| Record created | August 21, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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