Masterpieces of Oriental Art. 7

Extract

The border of this stone is composed of several rows of ornament. The outermost rim is carved in low relief that not only confines but gives width to the row of animals next to it. Those animals chase one another with the vigour of beasts in a circus ring, their exuberance apparent not only in the general rhythm but in the individual shape of every one of them. Each elephant is modelled with extreme sensitiveness in spite of his monumental form. The horses trot briskly with an air of concentration. The lions are alert and aggressive as if in. the presence of danger, while the cows are tame and placid. In every animal the massiveness of the body is a prominent feature, while sculptural stability is retained by the exaggerated shortness of the legs. The animals tread a row of foliated pattern, which gives the feeling of ground for their support and by its elaboration brings out the simplicity of the animals above and the geese beneath. The geese at first glance look symmetrical, yet they are not only pattern but alive, and the reason is that though they are subdued to an architectural purpose, there is individuality in every goose, and a slight variation in the gesture of every head. The lowest part of the border consists of two rows of lotus petals, delicate and faintly traced, the larger row climbing a swelling curve in the stone. The plain centre underlines the smallest modulation in the carving. This stone, which at first sight might be taken for decoration in the modern sense of a trade piece, proves on examination to be particularly rich and beautiful. How very different, for example, from Mestrovic's “Canadian War Memorial” illustrated in Some Modern Sculptors, by Stanley Casson.