{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O24837"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O24837/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2011EN9694/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2011EN9694/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2011EN9694","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017JU2343","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O24837/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O24837","accessionNumber":"E.503-1939","objectType":"Wall painting","titles":[{"title":"Three Heads (fragment of a wall painting)","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"This fragment from the Kizil Grottoes provides a glimpse of the rich tradition of Central Asian Buddhist painting. Kizil, located 75 km northwest of Kucha on the northern silk route, was an important Buddhist centre from 200-700 CE and 236 rock cut caves were richly decorated with paintings. The route was favoured by pilgrim monks on their way to visit holy sites in India. The caves were excavated by German archaeologists in the early 1900s who removed many of the paintings and took them to Berlin where some were subsequently destroyed during World War II.","physicalDescription":"Mud and straw mural, with three figures depicted.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"clay","id":"AAT10439"},{"text":"gesso","id":"AAT14952"},{"text":"pigments","id":"x33204"}],"techniques":[{"text":"painting (image-making)","id":"AAT54216"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Mural painting","categories":[{"text":"Archaeology","id":"THES48874"},{"text":"Buddhism","id":"THES48984"},{"text":"Paintings","id":"THES48917"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SSEA","id":"THES48598"},"images":["2011EN9694","2017JU2343"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"47A (VA)","id":"THES49797"},"free":"","case":"8","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"mural paintings","id":"AAT33644"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Xinjiang Uygur Zizhiqu","id":"x29909"},"association":{"text":"discovered","id":"x37269"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 6th century","earliest":"0495-01-01","latest":"0604-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"25","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"39.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"This fragment from a fresco from the Kizil grottoes was purchased for £40 from the dealer Monsieur Charles Ratton (Paris). It was claimed at the time that: \"The Museum fur Volkenkunste in Berlin has all these frescoes, which were found by Le Coq and none are normally obtainable. This was one retained by Madam Le Coq from whom Ratton has obtained it\".\n\nHistorical significance: Many of the paintings removed by the German expedition in the early 20th century were taken to Berlin and some were subsequently destroyed during World War II.","historicalContext":"This fragment provides a glimpse of the rich tradition of central Asian Buddhist painting.   Kyzil was an important centre on the central Asian trade routes.  It appears to have been largely Hinayana Buddhist, with rich temples endowed by the wealthy merchant community.  Sections of  wall paintings were removed from the ruined temples at Kyzil by the third expedition of the Berlin Ethnological Museum in 1906.  This fragment was subsequently in the collection of Albert von Le Coq, the expedition leader.","briefDescription":"Fragment of wall painting, depicting three heads,  6th century, a Buddhist subject, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China, ca. 6th century","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Zhao Li, <u>Kezi’er shiku bihua fuyuan yanjiu (A Study of the Restoration of the Kizil Grotto Murals)</u>, 2 vols, Shanghai shuhua chubanshe, 2020, vol. 2, pp.703-727. "}],"production":"Kyzil (or Kizil or Qizil) caves, located 75 km northwest of Kucha on the northern arm of the Silk Road.","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[{"text":"Buddhist","id":"AAT73738"}],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"15. Fragment of a Mural from a Buddhist Cave\r\n500–600\r\nThis fragment from the Kizil Grottoes provides a glimpse of the rich tradition of Central Asian Buddhist painting. Kizil was an important Buddhist centre. It lay on the northern silk route, used by pilgrim monks on their way to visit holy sites in India, and its 236 rock cut caves were richly decorated with paintings.\r\nPigment on a mud and straw ground\r\nChina (Kizil, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region)\r\nRemoved from the caves in 1906 by a German expedition led by Albert von le Coq\r\nMuseum no. E.503-1939","date":{"text":"06/06/2011","earliest":"2011-06-06","latest":"2011-06-06"}},{"text":"FRAGMENT OF A WALL PAINTING\r\nPolychrome on a gesso ground\r\nKyzil\r\nEast Turkestan\r\nc. 6th century\r\nThis fragment provides a glimpse of the rich tradition of Central Asian Buddhist painting.  Kyzil was an important centre on the Central Asian trade routes.  It appears to have been large Hinayana Buddhist, with rich temples endowed by the wealthy merchant community.  Sections of wall paintings were removed from the ruined temples at Kyzil by the third expedition of the Berlin Ethnological Museum in 1906.  This fragment was subsequently in the collection of Albert von Le Coq, the expedition leader.","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null}}],"partNumbers":["E.503-1939"],"accessionNumberNum":"503","accessionNumberPrefix":"E","accessionYear":1939,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2019LN8606","2019LW6254"],"recordModificationDate":"2026-02-19","recordCreationDate":"2000-02-13","availableToBook":false}}