Footnotes

清 十八/十九世紀 織金緞袈裟

Buddhist priestly robes (kashaya) such as this were worn by senior monastic officials at special ceremonies, as indicated by the use of 25 bands, the highest number allowed. Although the robe is made of luxurious materials, its design evokes the patchwork of donated scraps worn by Shakyamuni and his followers after taking a vow of poverty. The technical expertise and refined gold thread employed to create this particular robe indicate its donor's great wealth. It was likely made at a Qing imperial workshop as a gift to a monastery or a monk of high rank.

This robe is closely related to an imperial example made in 1833 and gifted to the Guanghua temple in Shanxi province by the Daoguang emperor (1820-50), as detailed in an attached note (Poly Auction, Beijing, 7 June 2017, lot 6120). Both kashayas consist of overlaid bands embroidered with ribbon-tied vajras spaced by scrolling elements, with a large lotus at the center of one of the longer borders. The designs of vajras, lotuses, and scrolls from these two robes are almost identical.

Also see a related example of a one-thousand Buddha kashaya in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (Jacobsen,Imperial Silks, 2000, Vol.1, p.369, no.144), and another sold at Bonhams, New York, 19 March 2018, lot 3057. Other related 18th- and 19th-century robes were sold by Christie's, Paris, 13 June 2018, lot 211; Sotheby's, New York, 21 September 2007, lot 64 and 19th-20th March 2013, lot 475.

Published:
Natalie Bazin, Rituels tibétains: Visions secrètes du Vème Dalaï Lama, Paris, 2002, no.1, p.54.

Exhibited:
Rituels tibétains: Visions secrètes du Vème Dalaï Lama, Musée Guimet, Paris, 6 November 2002 - 24 February 2003.

Provenance:
Private European Collection