Tibetan Water Dragon Kyungbur Trunk

This Tibetan trunk from the early 20th century is lavishly decorated from end to end in with a bold palette of red, orange, green and blue. A highly decorated trunk such as this was traditionally used in Tibetan monasteries, where it was used to store textiles, clothing, altar objects or other precious objects. This example employs a painting technique known as "kyung bur," wherein artists use a mixture of gesso, resin, oil and pigments to build up raised outlines and low relief textures.

The face of the trunk is decorated with an interlocking brocade pattern of chrysanthemum blossoms and round shou symbols (壽) for longevity. Pictured in the central medallion is a Tibetan-style water dragon, depicted with the elephant-like trunk of a makara, or sea monster. In each claw, the serpentine dragon grasps a colorful jewel, thought to produce rain, dew and fog when tightly clenched. The dragon's scaly texture is conveyed by rows of raised gesso dots, also seen throughout the brocade, resulting in a tactile surface that calls to be touched.