Fordítási egítség kellene...
-
#255
Itt van az eredeti szöveg:
This gray dog with vermilion highlights was first moulded and then reworked with a spatula to emphasize the structural lines.
A stocky, sturdy little animal, it stands firmly on its four parallel legs.
Its cylindrical body is solidly fastened in a harness ; its neck is short but robust, its head geometrical, with round eyes, pricked-up ears and ferocious jaws.
This mastiff was meant to impress.
Alert and on the look out, it gazes into the distance, ready to jump mercilessly at the first sign of danger.
It probably guarded its master’s last home and seems to have been thoroghly trained to carry out its duties.
The collar it wears shows it has been domesticated.
This kind of harness usually had a buckle, as seen in two contemporary Sichuan works: one standing dog found in the Dawanzuiyai tomb and the other seated on its hindquarters discovered in Majiashanyai.
These three examples illustrate the evolution of this quadruped’s status.
The first in-the-round representations date back to the Dawenkou civilization (4300-2400 BC).
These dogs were originally propitiatory animals destined for sacrifie.
Later it became customary to place their straw effigies at the head of funeral processions, so that they could snap up any evil influences on the way to the burial ground.
They eventually earned the right to accompany the deceased and were entrusted with the task of guarding his or her tomb.
Images of domestic animals, which already began to appear among tomb furnishings in the Western Han dynasty, turn up in even greater numbers during the Eastern Han.
The popularity of images of farm animals for use in tombs is probably related to the growing influence of the regionally dispersed, land-based nobility of the period, for whom such fecund creatures as chickens, ducks, and swine were obvious symbols of agricultural wealth and hence a family’s status.
Though for different reasons, dogs were also important symbolically, especially watchdogs, whose chief function was to guard a household and its belongings.
They were often shown fulfilling that function in Han tomb models of watchtowers and farmhouses, where they stand guard or lie curled up and sleeping in the doorways.
Employing images of watchdogs to guard an entire tomb, rather than only a miniature model within a tomb, was an obvious extension of the same idea, and a large number of pottery dog apparently used in this way have been unearthed from Eastern Han sites.
The Schnitzer Collection contains two examples, the one reproduced here, which is larger and more lifelike than the dog illustrated on page 63.
With its alert stance, as though ready to bound forward at any moment, this sturdy mastiff seems particularly well suited for its role as a tomb watchdog.
Though roughly modeled, keen attention to cruical details, such as the precise turn of the pricked ears and loose folds of the skin around the eyes and mouth, give the animal an amazingly lifelike appearance.
A similar attention to detail is apparent in the rendering of the dog’s surprisingly modern-looking, studded leather collar and harness cinched with a buckle.
A groovelike seam running down the dog’s neck and along its back reveals that like many other such figures, it was formed from two separately molded halves.
KÖszönöm.
Ami még érdekelne:
mit jelent a "meant to impress" kifejezés?