Manuscripts 7
Folio from a Shahnama (Book of Kings) by Firdowsi (d 1020). Recto: Taynush before Iskandar and the Visit to the Brahmans; verso: text, detached manuscript folio Mongol period, Il-Khanid dynasty, circa 1330-1340 Iran, Tabriz, opaque watercolour, ink and gold on paper, 59.5 x 40.4 cm, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Arthur M Sackler Collection, purchase: Smithsonian Unrestricted Trust Funds, Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, and Dr Arthur M Sackler
WATCH
Prof Hillenbrand discuss the
Mongol Shahnama
Detail of a folio from a Shahnama (Book of Kings) by Firdowsi. Recto: Taynush before Iskandar and the Visit to the Brahmans; verso: text, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Arthur M Sackler Collection, purchase: Smithsonian Unrestricted Trust Funds, Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, and Dr Arthur M Sackler
style that reached a high point with two masterpieces of Ilkhanid painting: Rashid al-Din’s Jami’ al- tavarikh and the Great Mongol Shahnama’. For the first time, Te National
Museum of Asian Art has assembled 24 folios from this dispersed manuscript, focusing on the series of illustrated folios depicting Iran’s historical rulers – beginning with a tale of Alexander the Great. To set the Mongol Shahnama in
context, the exhibition also includes works of art from Yuan and Ming China, as well as objects from the medieval Mediterranean world, and
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the Latin West, to highlight the cosmopolitan nature of the Ilkhanid empire and the development of a particular and rich pictorial language as the dynasty strengthened its position at the crossroads of the East and West. With more than 60 objects on
display, the exhibition includes works from the museum’s own holdings alongside loaned works from the Cleveland Art Museum, the Harvard Art Museums, the J Paul Getty Museum, the Keir Collection (currently on loan to the Dallas Museum of Art), and several prominent private collections.
• EVENT Sneak Peek: New Research from the National Museum of Asian Art, online Zoom discussion, Tuesday 10 September, noon-12.40pm, ET USA
• An extensive e-publication discussing some of the major results
of this research is scheduled for release in spring 2025
• The Great Mongol Shahnama by Robert Hillenbrand, Hali Publications/
Yale University Press, ISBN 97818911386
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IN DECEMBER, Chinese archaeologists uncovered a 2,500-year-old tomb thought to contain the remains and burial rituals of an ancient royal family in Luoyang City, Henan Province in Central China. Four out of the eight great ancient capitals of China are located in the province and the region is known for its ancient archaeological discoveries. Tis latest tomb is believed to originate from the little-known Luhun Kingdom, which lasted 113 years between 638-525 BC. It is thought to be the tomb of a Luhun nobleman, as copper belts and ceremonial pots were discovered along with a second burial pit nearby that yielded 13 whole horse skeletons and six chariots. Te designs of the objects show the stylistic influence from the surrounding regions during the Spring Autumn period (722 to 481 BC). Te horses are arranged on their
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Folio from a Shahnama (Book of Kings) by Firdowsi. Verso: Enthronement of Shah Zav; recto: unrelated text detached manuscript folio, Il-Khanid dynasty, circa 1330-1340, Iran, Tabriz ink, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, 59.1 x 40 cm, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Arthur M Sackler Collection, purchase: Smithsonian Unrestricted Trust Funds, Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, and Dr Arthur M Sackler
Folio from a Shahnama (Book of Kings) by Firdowsi). Recto: Ardashir with his wife, who throws down the cup of poison; verso: unrelated text, detached manuscript folio, Mongol period, Il-Khanid dynasty, circa 1330-1340, Iran, Tabriz, ink, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, 59.1 x 39.9 cm, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Arthur M Sackler Collection, purchase: Smithsonian Unrestricted Trust Funds, Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, and Dr Arthur M Sackler
Xu Bing January 1999
Shazia Sikander June 2021
Lee Ufan March 2014
Nalini Malani Dec 2017
SEE WHAT ARTISTS SAY ABOUT THEIR OWN WORK, THEIR VIEWS ON THE ART WORLD, AND WHAT INSPIRES THEM TO CREATE NEW WORKS
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Tomb of Ancient Royal Family Discovered in Henan, China
sides, with the decorations placed on their carcasses. Te first excavations in this area were in 2009, after government archaeologists were tipped off after a spate of grave robbing. Tese excavations have been carried out since 2013 and apart from the tombs, a city dating back to the Han dynasty (202 BC- AD 220) has also been discovered. Te tomb contained copper bells and ceremonial pots and is the largest site out of about 200 tombs in the area and includes roughly eight horse and carriage burial pits, 30 ash pits and 10 kiln sites over 200,000 square metres in the Luoyang area. Due to the tomb’s size,
which is at 21 feet long, 17 feet wide and 28 feet deep, archaeologists believe it to be the resting place of a royal family who, however, wielded little political power. Te tomb has suffered in the past from
water damage and robberies, but the interior coffin was protected by plaster and a coffin board. In a corner of the pit, there were also found large quantities of cow and sheep heads and hooves. Te Luhun Kingdom has been mentioned in historic texts in the past, but little was known about the kingdom since it only lasted for a short period of time. It is known that the Rong people, an ethnic minority group who made up the population of the kingdom, had a tradition of burying cattle parts in the horse burial pits, which has not been documented in other burial sites of the same period. It is hoped this discovery will
enable historians to have a better understanding of the movements of these ancient migratory people and a more detailed picture of the Luhun kingdom and culture.
Chinese archaeologists have found tombs from the short-lived Luhan Kingdom in Louyang, Henan province, including ‘a royal’ tomb and a horse burial pit which contains several whole horse skeletons with trappings, as well as chariots and other ritual objects
NEWS IN BRIEF REMEMBERING
KATŌ YASUKAGE (1964-2012): Ceramic Works from the Katō Family Collection
HISTORIC MAO LETTER, LONDON In December, Sotheby’s in London sold the late Chinese leader’s signed message to British Labour politician Clement Attlee for £605,000 to a private Chinese collector, against a pre-sale estimate of £100-150,000. Te letter, signed by Mao Zedong and dated from 1 November 1937, before Attlee became Britain’s prime minister, is one of the first communications between the Communist leader and any Western politician. Written from Yan’an, a remote part of north-western China where the Communists had set up headquarters after the Japanese invasion of the country, it calls for urgent assistance from the British in the war against Japanese imperialism. It is only the second document signed by Mao to appear on the international auction market in recent decades.
NOGUCHI MUSEUM HONOURS TADAO ANDO, NEW YORK Te Noguchi Museum has announced that the architect Tadao Ando and artist Elyn Zimmerman are the recipients of the third annual Isamu Noguchi Award, given to recognise individuals who share Noguchi’s spirit of innovation, global consciousness, and East-West exchange. Te awards will be presented during a special ceremony at Te Noguchi Museum’s annual Spring Benefit on 10 May. Jenny Dixon, director of Te Noguchi Museum says, ‘With the Isamu Noguchi Award, the museum honours the enduring links between the work of Isamu Noguchi and the many artists and designers he continues to inspire. We are pleased to present this year’s Isamu Noguchi Award to architect Tadao Ando and artist Elyn Zimmerman, whose approach to their profound and beautiful work shares much with Noguchi’s’.
Tall Flower Vessel, 2007 18 1/2 x 12 x 8 in. Oribe-glazed stoneware
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JAPANESE ARMOUR, PARIS Te Guimet Museum in Paris has announced that it has acquired an important suit of Japanese armour thanks to the launch of a public funding campaign. Te armour, dating to the Edo period,
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CHAPTER FOUND IN KYOTO
A manuscript containing a missing part of the important Japanese classic, Te Tale of Genji (Genji Monogatari), has been discovered among the possessions of a Tokyo family, whose ancestors were former feudal lords in Aichi Prefecture. Te news was announced by a Japanese cultural foundation last month. Experts at Reizeike Shiguretei Bunko, a foundation for the preservation of cultural heritage based in Kyoto, have now confirmed its authenticity, with the handwriting of the text, and the cover of the manuscript, identical to other Teika manuscripts. Te work comes from one chapter of
a five-chapter work called Aobyoshibon (blue cover book), compiled by the Kyoto poet Fujiwara Teika (1162- 1241), as a version of the earlier work. Te material, found in the last chapter of Aobyoshibon,
is entitled
Wakamurasaki. Te Kyoto-based foundation believe this to have been compiled during the Kamakura period (1185-1333), based on a number of different hand-copied versions of the classic tale.
Profile: the artist Zhang Hongtu This year marks the
150th anniversary of the Scottish photographer, John Thomson, visiting Angkor Wat Interview with Ryoichi Kurokawa, the audio-visual artist The opening of the Mu Xin Museum, in China Sotatsu: Making Waves, the first major exhibition of the artist’s work outside Japan
Asia in Amsterdam, Luxury in the Golden Age, at the Rijksmuseum Tibet’s Secret Temple: Body, Mind and Meditation in Tantric Buddhism Living for the Moment, Japanese prints in Los Angeles Japanese exhibitions in Paris, Geneva, and New York
Locarno International Film Festival Exhibitions in New York & Baden Gallery Shows: New York & London Listings
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According to local reporting,
family records show that the manuscript has been in the hands of the Okochi family since 1743, when it was handed down from the Kuroda family of the Fukuoka feudal domain. Professor Junko Yamamoto, from Kyoto University, explained that previous research on the chapter had relied on manuscripts of Te Tale of Genji that were completed by Teika about 250 years later. Teika, however, is known to have attempted to reconstruct the original version of the tale by comparing various copies of the book that were available to him at the time. Seen as the world’s first novel, the
classic story was completed around 1010, and is attributed to Murasaki Shikibu, a lady-in-waiting at the early 11th-century Heian imperial court (794-1185). It centres on the fortunes
– amorous and political – of Hikaru Genji, the son of an emperor. Te original manuscript of the story no longer exists, with the oldest versions of the story believed to have been transcribed by the poet Teika, who
Portrait-Icon of Murasaki Shikibu by Tosa Mitsuoki (1617-1691), Edo period (1615-1868), 17th century, hanging scroll, ink and colour on silk. On loan from Ishiyamadera Temple, Shiga Prefecture. The painting was on show at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s related show from March to June 2019
NEWS IN BRIEF
SEATTLE ASIAN ART MUSEUM TO REOPEN FEBRUARY 2020 Te Seattle Asian Art Museum (SAM) renovation by LMN Architects and landscape architect Walker Macy is set to open on 8 February next year. Te project takes the original, early 20th-century building and brings it up to 21st-century standards. Te renovation includes the preservation of the 1933 building and Art Deco façade and a new glass- enclosed park lobby overlooking the Olmstead- designed Volunteer Park. Te museum has been closed since early 2017 to address critical needs of infrastructure, accessibility, and programme space. Te US$56 million project encompasses both the new park lobby and a new gallery, education studio, conservation centre and community meeting room. Te renovated and expanded space enables SAM to reimagine its installation of the permanent collection, showcase contemporary Asian art, and put conservation on public view. When the Asian Art Museum reopens, you will no
longer find galleries labelled China, Japan, or India. Instead, vibrant artworks from Vietnam to Iran, and everywhere in between, come together to tell stories of human experiences across time and place. From themes of worship and celebration to clothing and identity, nature and power to birth and death, the new collection installation reveals the complexity and diversity of Asia—a place of distinct cultures, histories, and belief systems that help shape our world today. Trough a $3.5 million challenge grant from the
Andrew W Mellon Foundation, a new Asian Paintings Conservation Center at the museum will be devoted to the conservation, mounting, and study of Asian paintings. Te new conservation centre will serve the museum’s collection as well as institutional and private collections in the region.
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died in 1241. Te novel follows the romantic life and adventures of Prince Genji and this newly discovered chapter contains an important part of the novel in which the 18-year-old hero encounters his future wife. Te original manuscript of the work has never been found, and its contents have been previously preserved in hand-written copies, as reported by Te Japan Times earlier in October. Until now, just four chapters of this
54-chapter story are confirmed to be Teika’s transcriptions, but now this fifth chapter, relating Genji’s encounter with the girl who becomes his wife, has also been identified as by the hand of Teika. Te manuscript had been kept in an
oblong chest in a storeroom at the Tokyo home of Motofuyu Okochi, a descendant of the former feudal lord of the Mikawa-Yoshida Domain in Aichi Prefecture. Related manuscripts of all of the four other chapters in Aobyoshibon had previously been found by the 1930s and have been designated as Important Cultural Properties by the government.
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Profile: the Indian artist Kaveri Raina The sacred treasures of Nara, on show at the British Museum, in London Kyoto: Capital of Artistic Imagination, at The Met, in New York Nanga painting explored at BAMPFA, in California Japan Supernatural, the latest blockbuster exhibition, in Sydney Japan on Stage, prints and masks from the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Ohio The new Arts of Japan galleries in Brooklyn Asian and Islamic art at this year’s Venice Biennale Anish Kapoor in Beijing New York auction reviews Japanese exhibitions around the world, including Chicago, London, San Francisco, Shigaraki, Vienna, and Liverpool Listings Islamic Arts Diary
Next issue December/Winter Quarter 2019
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ASIAN ART MISSING TALE OF GENJI
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