Audiotur Buddhist East

The hall is devoted to Buddhist east of the Far East. Examples of eastern paintings are displayed in a special niche: on the left, there is a Japanese scroll “Samurai” and on the right, there is a Chinese scroll with playing monkeys.   The central embrasure is occupied by the unique Chinese folding screen of the seventeenth century made in a Koromandel  lacquer technique. Lacquer made of a juice of lacquer tree Sumakh was applied layer by layer on both sides the wooden base which had been rigorously prepared.    After each layer had been drained under the high humidity, it was polished and the number of layers was reaching up to 30.  After that in accordance with the drawing, lacquer was removed up to the undercoat in the areas allocated for painting with mineral colours. The plot for drawings on the front of the folding screen are scenes from the life of the imperial court and on the back, there is a traditional story “Flowers and birds”.

Items made in the technique of cloisonne enamel, wood and ivory engraving and snuff bottles are presented in the window-case next to the niche. A mini-collection of snuff bottles are shown as a line of high-tone items made of glass, multilayer lacquer, porcelain and semi-precious stones.   

Ritual items from Mongolian monasteries and also statuettes of Gods from Hindu and Buddhist pantheon are presented in the opposite window-case Bronze statuette are made in a technic of “lost wax”. Figures modeled from wax were covered with clay and filled with melted metal through a special aperture. The metal pushed out the wax and after it had been cooled down, the clay shell was broken and statuettes were covered with gold plating.