The Stein Collection
Head Fragment
4th century - 6th century (made)
4th century - 6th century (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This stucco relief fragment show maybe an antelope of light-coloured clay with mud and fibre filling and reed core. The animal has large pointed ears, eyes of slightly protruding circles with small pupil hole, and nostrils shown by holes. The right ear is broken away and the lower jaw which was separately moulded is missing. It was found at Chalma-Kazan, probably the site of a Buddhist shrine, near present-day Khotan 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 | Moulded clay |
| Brief description | Fragment of a stucco antelope head, China. |
| Physical description | Stucco relief fragment of maybe an antelope of light-coloured clay with mud and fibre filling and reed core. The animal has large pointed ears, eyes of slightly protruding circles with small pupil hole, and nostrils shown by holes. The right ear is broken away and the lower jaw which was sepraretely moulded is missing. |
| 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 | Acquired from a local antique dealer, who brought the object from the site at Chalma-Kazan. |
| Historical context | Chalma-Kazan lies at the southern edge of the Taklamakan Desert near Yotkan, capital of the ancient Kingdom of Khotan. Here Stein found a large deposit of pottery fragments, broken glass and slag; traces of Khotan's ancient jade mining industry. He also looked for evidence of the legendary shrine of Vairocana Buddha, divine counterpart of the historical Sakyamuni Buddha. The shrine had been recorded by Xuanzang, a seventh century monk who travelled the Silk Road. Stein believed that a stupa at the site conformed to his account; but his excavations yielded no evidence, for it had been emptied by treasure hunters long ago. A Buddhist temple north of Chalma-kazan yielded painted stucco Buddha figures and floral ornaments; terracotta figures of beasts and deities, stone carvings and jewellery. The presence of many Chinese coins dating to the eight century indicated that the temple had flourished during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.). A clay fragment of an antelope head recovered from Chalma-Kazan is in the V&A collection. |
| Production | from Chalma-Kazan |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | This stucco relief fragment show maybe an antelope of light-coloured clay with mud and fibre filling and reed core. The animal has large pointed ears, eyes of slightly protruding circles with small pupil hole, and nostrils shown by holes. The right ear is broken away and the lower jaw which was separately moulded is missing. It was found at Chalma-Kazan, probably the site of a Buddhist shrine, near present-day Khotan 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 reference | Stein, Marc Aurel. Serindia: detailed report of explorations in Central Asia and westernmost China. Oxford: Clarendon, 1921, vol. 3, p.1272 |
| Other number | Chal.0052 - Stein number |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | LOAN:I A SURVEY.10 |
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| Record created | June 25, 2007 |
| Record URL |
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