Pakistan Archaeology

Number 26 — 1991
( Volume two)
Silver Jubilee Number

Edited, by
DR . AHMAD NABI KHAN

THE DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY & MUSEUMS

MINISTRY OF CULTURE AND TOURISM
GOVERNMENT OF PAKISTAN
KARACHI
 FROM GANDHARA TO JAPAN
MIGRATION OF THE LION’S SHOULDER
ORNAMENT

by
Katsumi Tanabe

Most Japanese people think of Gandhara Buddhist Art when they hear of
Pakistan and the Japanese are greatly interested in Gandhara Art. The present
author began to take an interest almost twenty -five years ago and subsequently had
the chance to spend two years in Peshawar University studying under Dr. Ahmed
Hassan Dani. Two decades after I left Peshawar, Dr. Ahmad Nabi Khan kindly
invited me to contribute an article to the Festschrift in honour of Dr. A.H .Dani to
whom I have remained indebted to the present day. To show my thanks to Dr.
A.H.Dani , I chose a topic of interest to both Pakistani and Japanese scholars as it
deals with cultural contact between the two countries, namely a curious mark or
ornament often observed on the shoulders and buttocks of lions represented in
Gandharan sculpture.

Concerning the origin of the lion 's shoulder ornament , H.J. Kantor published
a comprehensive and interesting article in the Journal of Near Eastern Studies 1
She attempted to clarify the origin of this motif and to trace its transmission from
Egypt and Mesopotamia to the East including Pakistan . She clarified the influence
of the shoulder motif of the Near Eastern lions on the sculpted Gandharan lions.
She illustrated the Gandharan lion with shoulder ornament by a schist relief (Fig.
1) 2 excavated at Shotorak in Afghanistan . There are, however, other examples
unearthed in Pakistan , although most lions lack the ornament.

A .J. Arkell 3 and D . M .A . Bate4 clarified the origin of this unique motif
 PAKIST AN ARCHA EOLOG Y
78

indicated by Kantor and others,’ in the c

symbolic meanings as Mesopotamia and other regions
Images of a later period in
1 The Shoulder Ornament
of Gandharan Lions
.
'
01

^th*
lion

There are two types of lion image

with shoulder ornament. One with one
with two (PI . IB ).7
ornament (PI . I A ), and the other
6

The first type is exavated Near-Eastern while the second type is hardl
attested on the Near Eastern lions. Therefore, the first type of Gandharan lion
shows influence from West Asia. Most probably the first type of shoulder motif
is the exact copy of the Parthian lion. As is well known , the influence of Parthian
art is observed on some artifacts excavated at Sirkap, capital of the Indo-Parthian
king. Gondophares in early first century A .D. It is quite probable that from the first
to early third centuries Gandharan art was influenced by Parthian art, and one of
the affirmable examples of the influence of Parthian art on the art of Gandhara is
encounted in this ornament. However, when Kantor and the other scholars
mentioned above published their articles, no Parthian lion with the shoulder orna-
8
ment was yet attested. Some "Sasanian " lions with the ornament were indeed
known , and therefore, the shoulder ornament of Gandharan lions was duly
regarded as influenced by post -early third century Sasanian art.

However, the so-called Sasanian silver plates quoted by Kantor on which

the lion with this ornament is depicted were not produced during the Sasanian
period at all , but after the Sasanian Empire was desroyed by the Arabs in A.D. 632.
Therefore, on the basis of the Sasanian silver plates then known , it is wrong to assert
Sasanian influence on Gandhara. Thus, until several years ago it was difficult,
strictly speaking , to trace the source of the shoulder ornament of Gandharan lions.

Recently however, a Parthian lion with this ornament has been attested
among some silver rhytons unearthed in Iran. Apparently, there are at least four
silver rhytons with lion 's protomes which are decorated with the shoulder orna-
ment. Two belong to the Sackler collection9 while the other two are owned by a
private dealer in Osaka.

The protome of one of the lions in the Sackler Collection 's rhytons shows the
 MIGRATION OF THK LION S SHOULDFR ORNAMI NT
79
ament on the ear , not on the shoulder
shoulderom is decorated with a However , the
,

shoulder ornament ( Pi . U Alions protome of

the otherrhyton ).
kept by the dealer in Osaka are
The other rhy tons decorated wtth a ii„ ,
leop

decorated with another shoulder ornament on the buttocks .

Based on these examples , the shoulder ornament of Gandharan lions seems

have originated from Parthian predecessors .
most probably to There is no possibil -
ity that the shoulder ornament of the Gandharan lions originated in Indian
of lions , nor in the Early Indian Arts
representations despite the fact that lions have
existed on the Indian Subcontinent . If we refer to various lions in the sculptures
of Sanchi , Bharhut , Mathura, Amaravati etc . , it becomes clear that Indian lions are
never decorated with this motif . 10

On the other hand , there is some possibility that Gandharan lions decorated
with one shoulder ornament are descendants of the lion images of pre-historic
Pakistan. Several years ago, a gold hoard was unearthed in Quetta, including a gold
goblet.11 On its surface are four lions done in repousse work. The shape of the
goblet and the other finds are distinctly related to the bronze culture of Bactria, and
dated to the end of the third century B .C. and also to Mehrgarh VII (c. 1900 B .C .).
The most interesting feature of these lions is the representation of one shoulder
ornament above shoulder and near the mane . The place of production of this goblet
might be Bactria or Balochistan . In either case , however, it is difficult to assume
the Gandharan images inherited the shoulder ornament from images dating around
2000 B .C. The shoulder ornament on this gold goblet implies simply that the Near
Eastern shoulder ornament was transmitted even to Central Asia probably through
the international trade in Afghan lapis -lazuli of the third or second millenium B .C. ,
as is clearly indicated by a dragon image12 depicted on a stone bowl showing many
shoulder ornaments on the long body .

Next we should examine the second type of the Gandharan lion. As far as
the present author knows, there are at least two examples of lion image in which
this ornament is represented on both the shoulder and the hips (PI . IB ). One
example ( PI . IB ) is made of schist and the other is bronze (PI . Ill A ) . The latter is
said to have been bought in Kabul and has been already published with a short
comment by the late Prof . Seiichi Mizuno in Ars Buddhica 13 ,
 80 PAKISTAN ARCHAEOLOGY

According to Mizuno, there are three ornaments : on the sh

ouider, hips
head . However, in fact there is no ornament on the head . and
,tated above, this kind of representation is hardly
olare
! . attested in
lion images except in single example (Fig 15) , namely a

Mer ornaments with many long and thin hairs are engraved on -
the
the Near
Sasanian
P made in the th rd or fourth century and decorated with aroyal lion hum.silver
Tw0
the two lions on this plate : one is on the shoulder and the other bodies of
on the hips.

Pig . 15 Sassanian silver plate

decorated with royal lion-hunt .
As is well known, the
typological comparison of
date of the Sasanian silver plates is decided by
the king's crown with those
in portraits of the king on

k
 M1GRAT1 N OF THE LION S SHOULDER OK
° NAMI N r
81
n Sasanian rock -cut reliefs.
^ this one. Therefore it isBut no Sasanian king of kings
ins, and
°
^
° n siltlilarp°o Harper , this plate difficult to date this plate wears a
C

A ingdatCS ftom lhe third century. The

15
fold 10 ' is of
the third to
fourth centuryprecis
.
ely.
inl0n, il place of production In my

^^ ^ ^ late is depicted making a is also obscure. 6

enn£ °nth
the le£s
eXtT
iS
lSnKly awkward. One Parthian shot, but the
possibility is that the platerepresentation of
'
y;ushano-Sa ,nian
f prince living in Bactria. At
least four exampleswas made by a
ushano-Sasanians might 17
Icno^H 1
^
-
plates, and on
^
them might be the one now
have
under
produc ed "
of such plates
Sasanian" silver
discu ssion. In any case, the
^ Gant}haran lion images with two
^ ^ shoulder ornaments.
The representation of two shoulder
ornaments on a single lion is
nd the presence of two here implies the artist did not unusual,
leaning , but simply regarded the motif under
as a decorative mark. stand the original

^ understanding might have occurred either

savage lion existed. Therefore, we cannot say
ornaments were first applied in Gandhara nor in
in Gandhara or
defin
Bactr
cited Sasanian silver plate it is clear that double OT
ia
itely
but ,
that
based
^ plication
This kind of
Bactria where no
double shoulder
ornament began in the third century. ^ rfth«hodder

2. The Shoulder Ornament of Central Asian

lions
There are few Central Asian lion images
ornament but those excavated at Pyanjikent, Kafir
decorated with the shoulder
-kala and Khotan are confirmed.
Two wooden sculptures from Pyanjikent (7-8th
centuries)18 show a lion with a
er
should ornament on which the Goddess Nanaia (Fig. )
16 rides or else a princely

, -3**0
W
Fig. 16
A lion with shoulder
„ , ornament
“" Which princely hunter rides.

1
 PAKISTAN ARCHAHOUXiY
82

is depicted on the clay plaque excavated at Kafir

hunter A royal lion hum
,

with one shoulder ornament .

and the lion is decorated
Many pottery fragments have
been uneanhed at Khotan where Hon
lrriaig> s
were used as handles for vases. Some hundles of Hon shape ( Fig. )*,n '
decorated with one shoulder ornament . These examples are dated to seventh *
eight century .

Fig . 17
Handles of lion shape
decorated with one
shoulder ornament.

3. The Shoulder Ornament of Chinese Lions

According to the records of Western Countries preserved in various Chinese

Annals21 , Parthians and Sasanians offered tribute to Chinese emperors. Among
their tributes were lions. A tribute scene depicted on the reliefs22 of Persepolis in
Iran shows young lions being carried by two Elamite envoys although no shoulder
ornament is represented on these lions. We are not sure whether the lions offered
by Parthians and Sasanians themselves were young or adult , since there remains
no depiction of them.

Chinese lion images with the shoulder ornament are also quite rare. The first
example (Fig . 18 ) 23 is found in a Buddhist rock -cut relief at Cave No. 16 (South
Wall , Central West Niche) of the Yun - kang Caves dating from Northern Wei
Period( A . D.460). In this example two lions are sitting around the Buddha and they
have several Svastikas and similar marks on their bodies. These marks are nothing
but an abbreviated representation of the second type of shoulder ornaments of the
Gandhara lions i .e. , those depicted with two ornaments. These lion types might
 MIGRATION OF THE LION ’S SHOULDER
ORNAMENT 83

'
Fig. 18
Seated Buddha with two lion
having sawastika marks on
their bodies.

have been transmitted to Yun - kang through the Buddhist lion-thrones frequently
represented in Gandharan art. No other lion represented in the Buddhist sculptures
of Yun - kang has this ornament. Therefore, it can be said that the lion with shoulder
ornaments is quite exceptional in the art of Yun - kang .

Chinese examples of the shoulder ornament are also found on the body of a
sitting limestone lion kept in the Brundage Collection24 in the United States.
Several shoulder ornaments of a similar type are depicted on this lion dating from
the Sui period ( A .D. 589-618).

The present author could not find no lion with relevant ornament among lion
images of the Tang period.

However, many shoulder ornaments white in colour are painted on green

body of lion 25 supporting the Bodhisattva Manjushri statue made of stucco. This
image is housed at Manjushiri shrine of the Fo- kuang Sangharama in Wu - tai
district, Shan - hsi province and is dated by inscription to the Southern Sung period
( A .D. 1137 ).

Next example of Chinese lions with shoulder ornaments is a yellow - glazed

ceramic lion 26 made during the Ch ’ing period (1661- 1722). Many shoulder orna-
ments are represented on the body of this lion ( PI. Ill B ). This lion figure was made
 PAKISTAN ARCHAEOLOGY
84
,
after the Tang period but the app
|jCat -
about one thousand
years
was hardly the invention of this Ch' in
^°f thc sh0
to the body We
ornaments the long tradition the conventional r
^^^nof ^
of
take into
lion s
'
consideration
shoulder ornament
4. The Shoulder
from Tang to Ming and Ch ing peii

Ornament of Japanese Lions

'

^
Japan , and therefore the Japanese lio
Lions have never inhabitted

^^
0

phy was imported from China through Buddhist painting and the festiva3 ^ '

lions are those for lion -dance (Fig. 19) JJ thr

dance. The earliest Japanese the lions depicted in the scenes of Pari ° °3nes
Manjushri and
of the Bodhisattva
the Buddha. The earliest extant
examples of these three iconographic ser 8s go ^
back to the Heian period ( mneth to
twelfth century ) .

Fig. 19
A standing lion figure.

However, no shoulder ornament is applied on the body of lions depicted on

paintings dating from nineth to early seventeenth century. The earliest are seen in
paintings of the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century . Kano Tsunenobu
(1636-1713) Yamaguchi Sekkei (1644-1732) and others painted lions with many
shoulder ornaments on their bodies.27 The shoulder ornaments of the lions are
represented minutely with thin, whirling lines.

A wood - block print by Utagawa

Kunisada (1786-1865)28 represents a fes-
tival lion -dance ( shishimai in Japanese),
and the lion is made up of only a lion mask
 MIGRATION OF THE LION’ S SHOULDER ORNAMENT
85

and green cloth indicating lions body , both carried by a woman. Many lion 's
shoulder ornaments white in colour and similar in shape to those depicted on the
Ch ' ing lion (PI. Ill B ) can be seen on the green cloth . Green color of cloth applied
for the body of lion originated from those of lions supporting the Bodhisattva
Manjushri and has been conventional since the late Heian period ( twelfth century ).
This iconographical convention was transmitted to Japan from the Sung China.
This kind of festival lion dance is traditional in Japan and is always performed on
New Year’s Day , when the lion 's shoulder ornaments can still be seen. The same
type of shoulder ornament was frequently used since the nineteenth century on
lions depicted on clothes, belts, knives, sword guards and so forth.29

A pair of sitting stone lions ( PI. IV ) are normally housed as guardians in

Shinto Shrines ( Jinja in Japanese ). Some of these lions were made recently and
others about one or two hundred years ago. On the body of these lions are often
depicted many shoulder ornaments similar to those of wood - block print.

Thus the lion's shoulder ornament was not transmitted to Japan together with
the earliest lion image. The lion was known in Japan much earlier than was the
shoulder ornament. The shoulder ornament itself came to Japan extremely late,
either in the Edo period or somewhat earlier (seventeenth century ) , possibly from
Ming or Ch 'ing China. There is no official or technical term of this ornament in
Japan but several provincial names such as the "water wheel" or "chrysanthemum"
or "lion hair" are known.

Conclusions

We have attempted to trace the migration of the lion’s shoulder ornament and
demonstrate that it travelled from Gandhara to Japan through China. In Pakistan
this ornament is now extinct as it is in Egypt and the Near East where it originated,
but it is still living on Japan. This fact is quite astonishing and should be regarded
as one item of evidence of the cultural contact of Japanese culture with the Near
East and Central Asia. The route of migration of this unique motif and its
significance is largely forgotten and consequently the motif is regarded simply as
a conventional ornament of lion's body (lion -dance cloth ) originating in Japan,
unaware of its passage through the Near East from Gandharan Buddhist Art.
 PAKISTAN ARCHAEOLOGY
86
References

" me Shoulder Omamenl of near Eastern Lions", JournalofNea

H j Kanior 274.
1. ), pp 250-
-
Studies, vol. VI (1947

2. Mcunie, Shoiorak , MDAFA

. I. X (1942), Pans, PI . XXXV - 113.
Ornament of Near Eastern Liori' Journal 0 fNe
A J. Arkell, "The Shoulder
. .
Studies, vol. VII ( 1948), p 52
Ornament of Near Eastern Lion ", ibidem, vol . IX (1950)
4 D. M. A. Bate, "The Shoulder ’ P'
53-54 , PI . II.

5 H. J . Kantor, op. cit ., pp. 264-266.

Greco- Roman Period , vol. VII , New York , 1958
E. R . Goodenough , /ew« /i Symbols in the
pp. 69-72.
, 1957, Fig. 454.
6. H. Ingholt, Gandharan Art in Pakistan , New York
The Mainichi Newspapers, Catalogue of the Ancient
Pakistan Culture Exhibition ,Tokyo,
1961, PI . 126.
, part II , Delhi, 1937, p,
7. N. G. Majumdar, A Guide to the Sculptures in the Indian Museum
114, PI , Xl-b.

8. H. J. Kantor, op. cit., PI , X - B, XI- A,B,C.

9. Th. Lawton etal., Asian Art in the Arthur M . Sackler Gallery ,Smithsonian Institution , 1978,
Figs. 17,18.

10. In a Rajput miniature painting of eighteenth century is depicted a pair of Indian lions, and
on the shoulder of a male lion is depicted one shoulder ornament. However, it is difficult
to explain why this ornament was applied on this lion image(Persion influence ?). Cf . Ph
.
Rawson Eronc Art of India , London, 1978, PI , 37.
^
.
11. J . F. Jarrige, "A Prehistoric Elite Burail in Quetta ", Newsletter of Baluchistan Studies , No
-
4 , 1987, pp. 3 9, PI . 1.
M. Jansen et al ., Vergessene Stadte am Indus , Mainz am Rhein , 1987, Abb.85.
J . F. Jarrige et al . Jes cities oubiees de 1' Indus , Paris, 1989, pp. 111-116, Fig .157.

M. - H. Poilitr flateriel FunCr xire de laBactriane Meridionale de 1' Age du Bronze , Pans
,
12.
1984 , PI . XXVIII -225.
However, several lion images depicted on various objects unearthed in Northern Bactnaare
not decorated with shoulder ornament, cf . G . Ligabue, S. Salvatori , Bactria , an ancient
oasis civilization from the sands of Afghanistan , Venice, 1989.
13. Seiichi Mizuno, " Bronze Buddhist Seated Images in Small Size from Kashmir , Swat and
Kabul " , ArsBuddhica , vol . 78, 1970, pp. 50-53 (in Japanese), fig.5.
 MIGRATION OF Till * LION’S SHOULDER OKNAMLNT 87

14 . Unearthed at Sari . GHan Province, Iran and housed at Iran Bastan Museum , Tehran , acc . no.
1257 .
R . Ghirshman , Parihes et Sassanides , Paris , 1962 , Figs. 248 -251 .
P. O. Harper, Silver Vessels of the Sasanian Period , Volume One : Royal Imagery New
York , 1981 , PI . 10, pp. 52-56.

B. Marshak , Silverschatze des Orients , Leipzig , 1986, Taf . 3.

15. P. O . Harper, op. cit. , pp. 125 - 126.

One stone lion excavated from late Hittite Palace at Zendjirli, North Syria seems to be
decorated with two shoulder ornaments : one on the shoulder, the other on the buttocks. Cf .
E. R. Goodenough , op. cit., fig. 37.

In addition to this example, a ram depicted on a silver plate of Sasanian period unearthed
at Rvo in Soviet Azerbaijan is decorated with two shoulder ornaments in the same way. Cf .
D. A . Khalilov, K. O. Koshkarli , " Ikonographiya dvukh serebryanikh blyd iz Azer -
baidjyana ” , The State Hermitage Museum , Khudojestvennie Pamyatniki i Problemi Kul’
turi Vostoka , Leningrad, 1985, pp. 77-81, fig. 2.
Furthermore, a pair of lions represented in early Islamic textiles is often decorated with two
shoulder ornaments quite stylized : one on the shoulder, the other on the buttocks. Cf . von
Falke , KunstgeschichtederSeidenweberei , BtT\in , 1921, Abb. 103, 104, 106. R . Ghirshman,
.
ibidem Figs. 282,284,419.

16. P. O. Harper indicates that this plate was made in Gilan (p. 126), but the present author
cannot agree with her in this point.

17. F. Grenet, " Un plat sasanide d ' Ardashir 11(379-383) Bazar de Kabul", Studia Iranica, t.
XII(1983), fasc. 2, pp. 195-205, PI. I II.
Xia Nai , " A Sasanian Silver Plate from the Tomb of Feng Hetu of the Northern Wei
Dynasty ”(in Chinese), Wenwu (Cultural Relics), No. 8, 1983, pp. 5-12, 39, PI . 1-1.
K .V. Trever, V. G. Lukonin,Sasanidskoe Serebro, Moscow, 1987, Pis. 14, 15,.

18. A. M. Belenizki, Kunst der Sogden , Leipzig , 1980, Taf . 69-70, 74-76.

19. B. A. litvinskii, V. S. Solov' ev , "L' Art du Toxaristan AT epoque du Haut Moyen Age
(monument non - bouddhiques)", Arts Asialiques , t. XL(1985), fig .55.

20. N. V. D' yakonova , S. S. Sorokin , Khotanskie Drevnosti , Leningrad , 1960, Pis. 10-11.

21. Ts'efu YAan -kuei , ed . in eleventh century , chs. 968-972.

K . Tanabe, From Gandhara to Shosoin ( in Japanese), Kyoto, 1987, pp.. 173-174.

22. G. Walser , Die Volkerschaften auf den Reliefs von Persepolis, Berlin , 1966.
Taf . 9,37(Elamite delegation).
 PAKISTAN ARCHAEOLOGY
88

44.

, ,
Asian An Museum of San Fransisco C hinese
, .
Korean and Japanese Sculpture
in the A
Brundage Collection , 1974, fig. 78. Vfr>

25 -
shthyeniea.yStuccoFiguresoftheWu taiandSungperiods (inChinese).Shang-
hai , gSs>
p 60 PL 174. However, il is not clear whether green color of the lion 's body ’
and
shoulder ornaments are original or of later repair. Green color of the Manjushiri's h wh
might have been already established iconographically in the Sung period, and
0n boIT
to Japanese Buddhist paintings in the late Heian or Kamakura periods. transmits !
26. -
Housed at the Shan - hsi-Sheng Museum , T ai yuan City, China.
Saitama Prefectural Museum , Catalogue of the Exhibition of the Ancient Culture
of Shan
hsi Province , China , 1987, Ohmiya, fig. 49.

27. Screen paintings of seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Cf. T. Nakamura(ed.)

, Nippon
byoh bue shuhsei (Corpus of Japanese Screen Paintings), vol. XVI,
Animals, Tok yo, 1978,
-
Pis. 36 38, 40.

28. Ota Memorial Museum of Art, Catalogue of Exhibition of Every Year of

Tokyo in the Edo
period (in Japanese), Tokyo, 1988, p. 91.

29. T. Katori (ed ), Botan ( Paeonia suffruticosa , in Japanese), Japanese Designs

, vol IX Tokyo
1987, figs. 6, 10, 104, 105, 108, 140, 234. ’