1854 Burmese Painting  

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Object-Painting
Date-1854
Techniques-Gouache on paper, with decorations picked out in gold paint, mounted on card
Artist-Unknown
Place-Calcutta, India
Dimensions-Height 18.5 cm (unmounted),Length 23.8 cm (unmounted)
Current Location- Victoria & Albert Museum
Museum number-IS.181-1950

This is one of three paintings (IS.179-1950, IS.180-1950) which illustrate the visit of the Burmese King Mindon's envoy to Calcutta in 1854.

At the end of 1854, following the second Anglo-Burmese war of 1852, after which southern Burma fell to British rule, the Burmese King, Mindon Min (r. 1853-1878) sent his ambassador Ashin Nanmadaw Payawun Mingyi on an embassy of good will from his court at Amarapura to Lord Dalhousie, the Governor-General of India, in Calcutta. Sir Arthur Phayre, Commissioner of British Burma, accompanied the mission and acted as interpreter.

These three watercolours which were presented to the Victoria and Albert Museum by the great niece of Sir Arthur Phayre allow us to witness the pomp with which Burmese ministers travelled, through the eyes of a Burmese court artist who accompanied the mission.

At his second meeting in Calcutta, the ambassador, shown with his entourage carrying his swords, gold umbrellas and receptacles of rank, is seen strolling hand in hand with Phayre. He is portrayed in his elaborate and distinctive military court dress worn with a shweipei hkamauk (helmet) and a mauk-yu (skullcap), on this occasion wearing shoes with his pahsoe (type of sarong) drawn up to resemble breeches. This was one of two sets of robes (one civil and one military) which would have been presented to him, following his appointment, to indicate his rank.

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1854 Burmese Painting  

Posted by ေရွးျမန္မာ in


Object-Painting
Date-1854
Techniques-Gouache on paper, with decorations picked out in gold paint, mounted on card
Artist-Unknown
Place-Calcutta, India
Current Location- Victoria & Albert Museum
Museum number-IS.180-1950

This is one of three paintings (along with IS.179-1950 and IS.181-1950) which illustrate the visit of the Burmese King Mindon's envoy to Calcutta in 1854.

At the end of 1854, following the second Anglo-Burmese war of 1852, after which southern Burma fell to British rule, the Burmese King, Mindon Min (r. 1853-1878), sent his ambassador Ashin Nanmadaw Payawun Mingyi on an embassy of good will from his court at Amarapura to the Governor-General of India, Lord Dalhousie, in Calcutta. Sir Arthur Phayre, Commissioner of British Burma, accompanied the mission and acted as interpreter.

These three watercolours, which were presented to the Victoria and Albert Museum by the great niece of Sir Arthur Phayre, allow us to witness the pomp with which Burmese ministers travelled through the eyes of a Burmese court artist, who accompanied the mission.

At the third meeting in Calcutta, the ambassador is again shown with his entourage carrying his swords, gold umbrellas and receptacles of rank, but he is portrayed in a more relaxed mode, seated with Sir Arthur Phayre. His elaborate robes and headdress (see IS.179-1950 & IS. 181-1950) have been exchanged for items of dress that were worn by all classes of Burmese society--varying only in degree of costliness of fabric. A pahsoe (a type of sarong) of acheik luntaya silk worn with a simple white muslin ein-gyi (jacket) and gaung-baung (headcloth)

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1854 Burmese Painting  

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Object-Painting
Date-1854
Techniques-Gouache on paper, with decorations picked out in gold paint, mounted on card
Artist - Unknown
Place-Calcutta, India
Dimensions- Height 29 cm (unmounted),Length 42.5 cm (unmounted)
Current Location- Victoria & Albert Museum
Museum number-IS.179-1950

This is one of three paintings (along with IS.180-1950, IS.181-1950) which illustrate the visit of the Burmese King Mindon's envoy to Calcutta in 1854.

At the end of 1854, following the second Anglo-Burmese war of 1852, after which southern Burma fell to British rule, the Burmese King, Mindon Min (r. 1853-1878), sent his ambassador Ashin Nanmadaw Payawun Mingyi on an embassy of good will from his court at Amarapura to the Governor-General of India, Lord Dalhousie, in Calcutta. Sir Arthur Phayre, Commissioner of British Burma, accompanied the mission and acted as interpreter.

These three watercolours, which were presented to the Victoria and Albert Museum by the great niece of Sir Arthur Phayre, allow us to witness the pomp with which Burmese ministers travelled through the eyes of a Burmese court artist, who accompanied the mission.

Here at their first meeting, the ambassador sits with Sir Arthur Phayre and another British envoy on European-style chairs. He is splendidly portrayed in his civil court dress consisting of a wutlon (long gold decorated robe) over a pahsoe (a type of sarong) of acheik luntaya silk together with a bon (high domed hat with applied gilt foil). These robes would have been one of two sets presented to the minister on his appointment, with a full set of accessories and in accordance with strict sumptuary laws, the other being amyee-toe myee-shay (military court robe). Phayre and the other British envoy are portrayed in tight trousers and tail coat, in approximation of mid-Victorian court dress.

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Green-glazed ceramic tile  

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Object-Architectural tile
Date-12th century
Techniques-Green-glazed ceramic tile
Place-Burma
Dimensions-Height 26.5 cm , Depth 3.5 cm , Width 26.5 cm
Current Location : Victoria & Albert Museum
Museum number- IS.127-1999

This green-glazed ceramic tile, dating to 12th century Burma (now Myanmar), may have been a wall plaque or tile, possibly from the base of a stupa, though this is not known for certain. It illustrates one of the stories of the Buddha's previous lives, known as the Jataka stories.
Credit line-Bequeathed by Alex Biancardi

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Royal Fan, Mandalay, Before 1885  

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Object-Fan
Date-ca. 1880
Techniques-Silk gauze, painted in tempera colours and gold and silver, with wooden sticks and guards

Place-Mandalay (City), Burma
Dimensions-Length 34 cm, Width 66.6 cm (open)
Current Location : Victoria & Albert Museum, UK
Museum number-IM.292-1921

This fan of silk gauze on wooden sticks and guards, painted in tempera colours and gold and silver, is probably the work of a court painter attached to the royal palace in Mandalay, where the fan is said to have been found in 1885, after the annexation of Upper Burma and the exile of the last king of Burma, King Thibaw.

The fan depicts the last King of Burma, Thibaw Min, with his principal consort, Queen Supayalat, attended by courtiers and ladies, dressed in the court costumes of the period, witnessing an outdoor play (known as a zat-pwe) performed by actors and musicians in the Royal Gardens of the Palace at Mandalay.

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15-16th Bago( Pegu )  

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Object- Model pagoda
Date- ca. 15th century
Techniques- Gold, formed by raising and finished with repoussé and incised work
Place- Bago,Burma
Dimensions- Height 34.3 cm
Diameter 30 cm (maximum)
Current Location - Victoria & Albert Museum
Museum number
02755 to C/(IS)

This is a gold reliquary in the form of a hemispherical, Buddhist commemorative monument called a stupa. The shape refers to the original funerary mounds which were built in India to house relics of the Buddha. It formed part of a gold hoard (see ceremonial helmet 02758 (IS)), dating to the 15th and 16th centuries, and thus to the Mon kingdom of Pegu.

The hoard was excavated from a stupa relic chamber at the base of the Shwe Dagon Pagoda (literally 'Golden Temple') in Rangoon in 1855. Embossed and chased with lion, floral and foliate motifs, like other miniature stupas, it could have served either as a ritual object or as a container for the ashes of a highly respected monk.

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GlazeTile ( မာန္စစ္သည္ ေျမြေခါင္းထြက္ ) early 19th C  

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Object : Tile ( မာန္စစ္သည္ ေျမြေခါင္းထြက္ )
Date : Early 19th century
Techniques : Ceramic-red earthenware, covered on the front with a white slip under a transparent siliceous glaze

Place : Ava, Burma
Dimensions : Height 21.5 cm
Current Location : Victoria & Albert Museum
Museum number : IM.134-1925

This tile depicts the demonic army of Mara sent to disturb the Buddha's meditation as he sought enlightenment. Each of the grotesque warriors wields a sword and spear and has a snake poised on his head. Below there is an incised inscription, which in translation reads: 'The army of Mara appearing with snake on head'.

It is one of a series of tiles produced for King Bodawpaya of Ava, in Upper or northern Burma, in the early 19th century to decorate the Mingum temple, which was left unfinished after his death in 1819.

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Early Bagan 10th C ,Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara ( Maharyana Buddhism)  

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Object : Sculpture
Date : ca. 10th century
Techniques : Cast copper alloy, with gilding
Place :Bagan, Burma
Dimensions : Height 7.25 in , Width 4.75 in ,
Current Location : Victoria and Albert Museum
Museum number:IM.39-1922

This Buddhist devotional image, probably commissioned for donation to a temple at Pagan, depicts a male figure, probably the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, seated in the dress and posture of 'royal ease'. This unique Buddhist image is an iconographic rarity in that it may be dated as late as the 10th or 11th century; but it represents the work of craftsmen working in the earlier tradition.

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Bagan 11th C , 4 heads Brahma,  

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Object: Relief panel
Title: Brahma
Date: 11th century
Techniques:Grey sandstone, with traces of yellow pigment

Place: Bagan, Burma (possibly)
Dimensions : Height 30.5 cm, Width 22.2 cm (base),Museum number
Current Location : Victoria and Albert Museum
ID - IM.39-1917

Relief panel of the Trimurti, a triad of the Hindu gods Brahma, Vishnu and Siva, who represent the creative, preservative and destructive principles. The panel is carved in high-relief with a figure seated cross-legged and with palms joined together near the breast. The three faces turn to the front and to each side, their ribbed hair braided into three elaborate cone shapes with a lotus finial resting upon them. Except for the headgear, the sculpture is devoid of any other ornamentation or attribute. The upper torso of the image is bare, but the lower part of the body is clad. The hand and seating postures, as well as long earlobes, are notable for their Buddhist influence.

The exact provenance of this panel is uncertain. It was one of a series collected by Dr J. Anderson, who travelled through upper Burma in 1869 on the first British Expedition to Yunnan and bequeathed to his widow, Mrs G. S. Anderson. It has also been suggested that it could have originated in Eastern Bengal.

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