Varied shrines and many idols—Indian idols—Temple vases and ornaments.

There are some who hold it to be a wicked thing to loot the temple of a heathen deity, and regard it as sacrilege to ruthlessly tear down the idol from its shrine. Others glory in an opportunity of proving the powerlessness of the man-created idol to save the temple from ruin and desecration. Yet there are many who recognize in these idols of wood, stone, and metal, emblems and symbols of ancient faiths in which there may be a greater reality, and, for all we can tell, potency, to those who look beyond the mere shrine, than appears at first sight. Notwithstanding all that, the multiplicity of gods and the number of so-called deities make many sceptical about the worship of their devotees, and there are few who feel much compunction when adding such objects as metal idols to their curios—when they are able to secure them honestly.

Varied Shrines and Many Idols.

Needless to say the faiths of those who worship "unknown gods," from whatever source they may have come, differ. The very uncertainty of the religions, which admit of varied deities, has fostered the increase of ceremonies and the change in rites, which, added to local folk-lore and myths which have gained in the telling, have caused new idols to be set up. It was so in pagan Greece and Rome, and it is the same in some parts of the world to-day. To these causes we may attribute the number of idols of different types, or the same idols represented with other attributes, which the collector of metal meets with. There is a strange fascination about the stories of pagan and heathen deities and their influence over men, and to obtain the full interest and delight from such a specialized collection the collector must become a student of Eastern and other religions and priestcraft.

The temples in which religious rites have been, and in some instances are still, observed, vary in importance just as the associations around the cathedrals and ruined abbeys in our own land differ from those almost absent in the more recently erected churches. The wealthy Indian, not unnaturally, employed artificers in brass to make models of the great shrines, and some of these rare works of metallic art are to be seen in the Indian Museum. Several are of eighteenth-century workmanship, among them beautifully modelled temples of Krishna. Incidentally it may be mentioned that secular buildings have been reproduced too; notably there is a very fine model of the Palace of the Winds at Jaypore, Rajputana, which was presented by the Maharajah of Jaypore.

Some may regard the collection of idols as a curious hobby; others possibly see in them only art treasures to be valued for their intrinsic worth, for many idols are enriched with precious stones and jewels and are overlaid with gold and silver. Such objects occupy a different place from the cruder idols of wood and stone, cut and carved by savage races. We can well understand that the refined worker in metals spared no pains to make his idol or fetish beautiful and something to be admired.

Indian Idols.

Of Indian idols there are many: Buddha is so widely held in esteem that it is no wonder that so many representations, varying in size, have been produced. The favourite position, known as the "Witness" attitude, is that with which collectors are most familiar.

Indian idols are of many forms, among the commoner varieties being those of Vishnu, Lakshmi the wife of Vishnu, and Siva. Many images of copper, afterwards gilt, come from Thibet and Nepal. The curiosities associated with the Lamaist worship have become familiar of late years. One of the representations of Amida, holding in her hand the teppattsu, is shown in Fig. 69. A "blue" Tara is illustrated in Fig. 70; Amitayus is shown in Fig. 71; and Fig. 72 represents Vajra Dharma holding the dorge. In Fig. 73 Amitayus is again shown holding the reliquary and wearing a jewelled collar. An interesting Lamaist altar ornament is a copper skull bowl, used as a receptacle for the sacred beer or wine of life. There are also Thibetian holy water jugs, beautifully inlaid with silver. In the Victoria and Albert Museum may be seen a colossal Buddha (Daibutsu) of sixteenth-century workmanship, which came from a Japanese temple. Appropriately placed close to it is a massive pair of lanterns of bronze, which were originally a gift to the temple of Miyoshino-tenjin by the feudal lord of the district. Most of these temple relics—idols and ornaments—were made of a special alloy known in Japan as Kara kane, which means Chinese metal, from which it may be inferred that this alloy was known and employed in China before it came into general use in Japan.

Temple Vases and Ornaments.

The mystical beliefs of China are chiefly Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, to which should be added ancestor worship, and in connection with all of them there are special objects of veneration, which we group together under the somewhat generic term of "temple relics."

From Japan as well as China we get many fine temple sets. Whence come they? some may ask. Perhaps they have been discarded because they have been replaced with newer or more elaborate ornaments, although they may have been obtained through the cupidity of some of the temple attendants. From whatever sources they came there are numerous examples in the London curio-shops and in our museums. The crane and tortoise have long been held in veneration in Japan. The tortoise especially is frequently found on old Chinese pottery and metal-work, as well as being fashioned in Corea and Japan. In Fig. 74 there is a Japanese pricket candlestick, in the form of a crane and tortoise, of eighteenth-century workmanship, and it evidently formed one of a set of five altar pieces. Some of the altar sets gave special prominence to two flower vases as part of the set, of somewhat later style of decoration to Fig. 90; it was probably made early in the nineteenth century. This vase was formerly used in a set in which a figure of Buddha occupied the centre. It was a common practice to hang over the Buddhist altars lamps, many of which are to be seen in our museums. In Fig. 75 is shown a Japanese ritual vase, intended for wine (hu); it is of square shape, with cover of Kwei and dragon pattern, animal feet and bosses on the shoulders, and bird-shaped arris on the lid, the inside of which is inscribed with twelve characters; the patina of this vessel ranges from deep brown to bright malachite-green. Fig. 76 is a smaller ritual vessel, with two handles at the shoulder and one meander band and knob. The vase shown in Fig. 77, with dragon handles, a beautifully patinated specimen, shading from brown to red with green accretions, is a ritual tsui or vase for offering corn. These remarkable relics formed part of a large collection dispersed recently at a well-known London salesroom. Now and then less important pieces come under the hammer, and it is by no means difficult to secure for a small outlay an excellent representative collection of these deeply interesting objects associated with idol worship.

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