Posted 13 years ago
papa
(184 items)
Have gotten some internet responce to this item; here is one responce.
Papa, this is not a charcoal rubbing or a wax rubbing like those from Thailand or the ones you may see of English tomb images.
Chinese rubbings are reproductions of carved stone stele and tomb wall carvings. First the stone is lightly sprayed with a very weak glue solution, and then Chinese hand-made xuan paper is applied to the surface, and gently pressed with a coir brush to impress the grooves into the paper so that only the image is left raised.
Chinese ink is then prepared, and a pad of silk (usually stuffed with cotton) is moistened with the ink, and very gently dabbed onto the surface, gradually darkening the image.
This is a time-consuming process and is now severely restricted in China in order to preserve the stele, some of which are extremely ancient. That is why these rubbings are now both rare and extreamly costly.
In the first picture above you can see the faint traces of the laid lines in the paper which are the result of the bamboo screen on which the paper is made, the carving dates to the Northern Wei (386-534)
Anyone is welcome to comment or translate the inscription. Exact value?
Hi papa!This is a nice print.
I'm seeing a friend tomorrow evening who should be able to translate it for you.
I'll get back to you.
Being severely restricted in China, obviously makes things more valuable in America. Would be nice to know what it says.
Hi papa. My friend Dawei tells me that it reads:
"#Three of a selection of decorated images of Northern Wei Buddha pedestals"
He added: Northern Wei dynasty dates from 386 to 534 AD as was noted in your earlier reply.
So no great breakthrough with the translation except that there are others to collect.
Finding the other two might be difficult. The severely restricted in China is not the same as American soil. Thank you; I will check around the internet to see if the rest of the set is online.
Not sure what restrictions you are talking about, they don't apply to copies like this. In fact, the pencil writing suggests that this was probably done at a museum/research archive and sold to visitors.