Asianart.com | Associations | Articles | Exhibitions | Galleries

Im cleaning out the home of my grandmother she lived in Asia, in the 1920s. Found this piece on thick paper. Interested in knowing what country it is from and what the writing say. Is this a tourist piece or something worth having framed, all info would be welcome.

I don't know, but have you looked at this website yet? It seems to have some information on your topic.
http://www.myjapanesehanga.com/home/visual-index-of-prints-a---k

I know a very little bit of Tibetan - The writing is in the quick cursive Tibetan script as opposed to the more familiar block character writing, so I am unable to read it. Great piece!

Nels

This is a Tibetan woodblock print depicting 'The Three Victorious Creatures of Harmony' (Tib. mi-thun g'yul-rgyal gsum), being the garuda-lion (top), the fish-otter (left) and the makara-conch (right).

"The Union of Opposites (mithun gyulgyal) is an interesting group of symbols. These mythological beings are joined rival pairs of animals created to symbolize harmony. A snow lion and a garuda, normally mortal enemies, were combined to form an animal with the body of a snow lion and the head and wings of a garuda. Likewise a fish was put together with an otter and a crocodile-like chu-srin was married to a conch shell. These composed creatures are often put on victory banners for the reconciliation of disharmony and disagreement."

I can't help with the inscription as I have no experience translating Tibetan.

Asianart.com | Associations | Articles | Exhibitions | Galleries |