SDI Publications

SDI Publications has a small, exclusive list of titles which includes some of the most important, sought-after, recent reprints and translations of classic studies on the art history of Asia. Exquisitely reproduced and bound, authoritatively translated and available in limited quantities, SDI Publications are essential additions to institutional and private libraries with interest in the arts of Central, Southeast and East Asia.

SDI Publications' titles are sold exclusively, worldwide, by Orchid Press and its affiliate sales and distribution channels.

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The Hadda Excavations
by Jules J Barthoux
First English translation, by N. M. Fatemi and A. Azodi, of the two volume Les Fouilles de Hadda: Stupas et sites: Mémoirs De La Délégation Archéologique Française en Afghanistan and Les Fouilles de Hadda: Figures et Figurines.
2001 (original editions 1930-33).
This new English edition consists of the two translated volumes combined into one:
Section (Vol.) I: Stupas and Sites : xi, 208 pp., 198 figures and drawings, 1 map..
Section (Vol.) III : Figures and Figurines : 20 pp. of text and 112 photographic plates, illustrating over 470 monochrome images, many enlarged and digitally enhanced; 7 fold-out site plans. (Volume II of the planned original series was never published). Limited edition of 999 copies, 30 x 22 cm.; hardbound in bonded leather.
ISBN 1-878529-41-2 $80.00
ISBN-13: 978-1-878529-41-1

The Hadda complex, located just south of modern Jalalabad, Afghanistan, was a key site on the ancient trade route from India through Central Asia to China. Archaeological exploration of Hadda has yielded some astonishing artistic discoveries, including some of the earliest representational images of the Buddha, as well as the earliest surviving Buddhist texts.
Barthoux's excavations at the site, in 1926-28, uncovered many thousands of images, sensitively rendered in stucco in the Gandharan 'Greco-Buddhist' style and originally created to adorn the walls of over 500 commemorative stupas. Barthoux's work was hampered by resistance from local Mullahs, and despite his valiant efforts only a fraction of the sculptures excavated by his team reached the Kabul Museum. Of these, many were subsequently destroyed during the civil wars that have plagued the country in the late 20th century; thus the present publication is the only surviving record of the bulk of this magnificent discovery. Barthoux's meticulous line drawings of the remains of the Hadda stupas, in the first part of this study, serve to put into context the some 470 stucco sculptural images illustrated in photographs in the second section of the volume. An essential reference for all with interest in the beginnings of representational Buddhist art, and the early artistic dialogue between the ancient civilzations of Central Asia and the Mediterranean.

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Ancient Khotan
Detailed report of archaeological explorations in Chinese Turkestan carried out and described under the orders of H. M. Indian government
by M. Aurel Stein
2001 (original edition 1907).
This new English edition consists of the two original volumes combined into one:
Section (Vol.) I: xxiv, 621 pp. of text, including 78 b&w photos and drawings, index
Section (Vol.) II: 17 colour and 102 b&w plates, illustrating several hundred objects and fragments, one fold-out map
Limited edition of 900 copies, 35 x 25 cm.; hardbound in bonded leather.
ISBN 1-878529-42-0 $160.00
ISBN-13: 978-1-878529-42-8

The kingdom of Khotan, situated on the ancient Silk Road along the southern edge of the Taklamakan Desert, in the modern region of Xinjiang, China, flourished for over a millennium from the 2nd century BCE, during which time it served as a pivotal center for economic, cultural and religious exchange between China to the east and the Buddhist kingdoms of Central Asia, to the west. Subsequently falling into obscurity, Khotan remained buried and well preserved beneath arid desert sands until the beginning of the 20th century, when the great explorer, Sir Aurel Stein, led an expedition to the region to excavate and record the sites.
This thrilling account of Stein's discoveries at the early Buddhist monastic cities of Rawak and Dandan-Uilik and the important archaeological sites of Niya and Endere was first published in 1907; copies of the original edition have long been unobtainable. In this new publication of Stein's report of his first expedition, the textual description of the expedition, rich not only in technical descriptions of the archaeology, but also in the details of the conditions, challenges and adventures Stein faced, are complemented by illustrations in colour and monochrome of hundreds of artefacts, including Buddhist sculptures, textiles and ornaments, coins, manuscripts and architectural remains uncovered by his team.

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Investigation Of Silk From Edsen-Gol And Lop-Nor:
Reports from the Scientific Expedition to the North-western Provinces of China under the Leadership of Dr. Sven Hedin.
by Vivi Sylwan
2001 (original edition 1949).
x, 180 pp. text, including 104 drawings and figures, 4 maps, 3 colour and 27 b&w plates, including photographs of over 100 objects; bibliography, 30 x 22 cm., hardbound with dust jacket.
ISBN 1-878529-43-9 $60.00
ISBN-13: 978-1-878529-43-5

A detailed study of the ancient silk remains excavated prior to WWII, by Sven Hedin in Lop-Nor, Chinese Turkistan (now Xinjiang) and by Gösta Montell in Edsen-Gol, Gansu Province, China. The material was comprised mostly of whole sections and fragmentary remains of garments recovered from ancient grave sites and presumed to date from approximately the Han Dynasty to the early Tang (7th century CE).
Sylwan explores many aspects of the technologies and design concepts employed in fabrication of these garments, including materials used, dyes and dyeing, weaving, loom construction, decorative elements employed and tailoring. An appendix discusses ancient Chinese textile terminology, and the methods of cleaning silks recovered from archaeological sites. An essential reference for all with interest in the origins of the great silk traditon of China.

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Woolen Textiles From Lou-Lan:
Reports from the Scientific Expedition to the North-western provinces of China under the Leadership of Dr. Sven Hedin.
by Vivi Sylwan
2001 (original edition 1941).
127 pp. text including 47 figures and 2 maps, and 19 plates, including 71 b&w and 2 colour photos; glossary, bibliography; 30 x 22 cm. hardbound with dust jacket.
ISBN 1-878529-40-4 $50.00
ISBN-13: 9781-878529-40-4

An important technical study and reference work on the textiles found during Sven Hedin's 1934 expedition into Chinese Turkistan (now Xinjiang Province, China). The materials were found at Lou-Lan, in the southwestern quadrant of the Taklamakan Desert, on the southern silk road route - the dating of the Lou-Lan site is still a matter of debate, although the current consensus is that it was settled from about 2000 BCE through into the first centuries of the Common Era.
Objects of Sylwan's study included leather footware, plaited and woven woolen garments, discovered on the mummified remains in ancient graves in the settlement, as well as miscellaneous ornaments, baskets and shamanist parphernalia. Details of production methods and equipment are explored, and comparisons are made between the Lou-Lan finds and contemporary archaeological materials from European and Middle Eastern sites. The book concludes with an appendix by Gösta Montell comparing spinning tools and methods employed by the ancient inhabitants of East, Southeast and Central Asia.

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Tibetan Painted Scrolls
by Giuseppe Tucci
1999 (original edition 1949).
Published in three volumes.
Two text volumes: v, 798 pp. total, including 134 b & w plates, lineage charts, index, 33 x 25 cm Folio volume: 256 full page plates. 95 color, 161 b & w, 46 x 34 cm. Limited deluxe edition of 500 sets; all volumes hardbound in bonded leather.
ISBN 1-878529-39-0
ISBN-13: 978-1-878529-39-8

A new edition of Tucci's seminal work on Tibetan Buddhist painting, first published in 1949, original copies of which have long been unobtainable. Based on his prodigious lingusitic skills and pioneering field research throughout the Himalayan kingdoms, Tucci virtually rewrote the history of Tibetan Buddhist painting with the original post-war edition of this book and created a foundation upon which all later historical studies, particularly on western Tibet and Nepal, now stand.
   Tucci commences the study (text vol. I) with surveys on the literature, lineages and traditions of Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism and supplements this with descriptions of a number of major Tibetan monastic complexes which no longer survive, as a result of the ravages of Mao's Cultural Revolution. He then explores the thangka painting tradition in detail, covering such topics as origins, evolution, symbolism, iconometry, consecration ceremonies, as well as artistic influences from neighbouring Nepal and China.
   The second part of the study (text vol. II) includes detailed analyses of the 195 thangkas illustrated in some 256 plates in the folio volume, and includes many insightful essays on such topics as regional variations on painting style, the lives of early Buddhist saints and Jataka tales.
   The publisher of this new edition expended much effort in tracing many of Tucci's original examples to their present-day locations in Western institutional and private collections, and obtaining new colour images of these masterpieces. Thus, while the 1949 edition illustrated only 25 of the total 256 folio plates in colour, the present publication presents some 80 additonal colour images of paintings, replacing their monochrome counterparts in the original edition.

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Chinese Sculpture from the Fifth to the Fourteenth Centuries
by Osvald Siren
1998 (original edition 1925).
This new edition consists of the four original volumes combined into two.
Total over 1,000 pp., including 125 pp. introductory essay, plate descriptions, index, and over 600 photographic plates illustrating some 900 objects. 31 x 22 cm.
Limited to 999 copies; hardbound in bonded leather, slipcase.
ISBN 1-8785290-33-1 $180.00
ISBN-13: 978-1-8785290-33-6

Originally published in a four-volume edition now virtually unobtainable, this work, by one of the foremost Asian scholars of the last century, remains the most comprehensive treatise on Chinese Buddhist sculpture in any western language. In this monumental study, Siren commences with a comprehensive introduction and survey of the genre. He then illustrates, dates and describes over 900 examples in bronze, stone and wood, ranging in date from the fifth century Wei Dynasties, through the Northern Qi, Sui, Tang, and Song periods to the end of Chinese sculptural innovation in the fourteenth century Yuan Dynasty. Representative examples are included from all of the great collections of North America, Europe and Japan as well as in situ examples from cave temples, architectural ruins and imperial tombs in China. Many of the items illustrated appeared in print in this volume for the first time and a significant number of them have since been lost; it is also noteworthy that Siren's study was produced prior to the massive pollution of the genre by high quality fakes, which has occurred in more recent years.
This new edition of a classic study on Chinese art history has been produced in two volumes, bringing together descriptions and related illustrations into the same volumes (the original edition had these separated) and employing digital technlogy to enhance and enlarge many of the original photographs.

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Wall Paintings from Ancient Shrines in Central Asia:
Collected by Aurel Stein and kept in the Delhi Archaeological Museum
by F. H. Andrews
1998 (original edition 1948).
Published in two volumes.
Text volume: xxxiv, 128 pp., 4 plans, 2 b&w photos, fold-out map, 31 x 22 cm.
Folio plate volume: 12 colour and 20 monochrome large fold-out plates, 44 x 34 cm.
Limited to 999 copies, hardbound in bonded leather.
ISBN 1-878529-37-4 $110.00
ISBN-13: 9781-878529-37-4
The artist FH Andrews' appreciation of the beauty of form, and the significance of artistic style, was a perfect complement to Sir Aurel Stein's more scientific approach to his archaeological discoveries; on this basis, Andrews' friendship and cooperative partnership with the great explorer spanned some 50 years.
In the present volume, first published in 1948 and long out of print, Andrews records and provides insightful analysis of the range of Buddhist wall paintings recovered by Stein at various sites, on the perimeter of the Taklamakan Desert (now in Xinjiang, China), which had served as waystations along the southern and nothern branches of the Silk Road. With his artist's eye, Andrews skilfully points out the stylistic variations and developments, as well as local and exotic influences, on the ancient painters' pious renditions of the life of the Buddha and other Buddhist saints.

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Sino-Siberian Art In The C.T. Loo Collection
by Alfred Salmony
1998 (original edition 1933).
119 pp. text, 44 plates illustrating hundreds of objects, map; 31 x 22 cm.
Limited to 999 copies, hardbound in bonded leather.
ISBN 1-878529-36-1 $70.00
ISBN-13: 978-1-878529-36-7

This important, profusely-illustrated monograph by the the eminent Sinologist, Alfred Salmony, traces the migration and evolution of "animal style" art, from its Scythian origins in the steppes region of the ancient Near East through the shamanistic, nomadic tribes of Siberia to feudal China. Salmony illustrates and describes some 300 bronze objects from one of the most extensive private collections of nomadic art ever assembled. In this new edition, the plates have been greatly enlarged for ease of examination.

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Le Temple d'Angkor Vat
by Louis Finot
1995 (original editions 1929-32).
Published in three volumes, including a total of 608 plates; text in French.
Vol I (architecture): 196 pp. including 32 pp. text, 150 plates, 2 fold-out plans
Vol II (sculpture): 156 pp. including 7 pp. text, 136 plates (2 fold-out), 2 fold-out plans
Vol III (bas-relief galleries): 144 pp. including 6 pp. text, 322 plates & 9 plans (62 of which are fold-out)
All volumes 35 x 26 cm, hardbound with dustjackets, in slipcase.
ISBN 1-878529-16-1 $350.00
ISBN-13: 978-1-878529-16-9

A grand photographic record of the art and architecture that existed at the Angkor Wat monument in the mid 1920's, during the heyday of French archaeological activity in their colonies in Indochina. Includes both panoramic and detailed illustrations of the architecture of the complex, the freestanding sculptures and relief ornaments that were applied lavishly throughout Angkor Wat, and the entire 850 meter long bas relief panels depicting legends and epics of Indian origin, covering the outer walls of Angkor Wat's Inner Gallery.
Many of the sculptures and ornamental details illustrated in this work have been damaged or destroyed over the intervening more than 70 years since the first editions appeared, making this the most comprehensive surviving record of Angkor Wat's treasures. An indispensible resource for all students and admirers of Khmer art.

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Les Arts Indigènes en Nouvelle-Guinée
by Stephen Chauvet
1995, second edition (original edition 1930).
351 pp text and 114 pp. illustrations including 430 duotone plates, 1 fold-out map, bibliography, 32 x 23 cm. Limited to 999 numbered copies, hardbound in bonded leather, hard slipcase; text in French..
ISBN 1-878529-17-X $110.00
ISBN-13: 978-1-878529-17-6

Previously out of print and in great demand for well over half a century, this important reference work on the indigenous art of New Guinea illustrates examples of a wide variety of weapons, shields, masks, utensils, bowls, figures and other ethnographic material, from the collection of the author. Dr. Stephen Chauvet (1885-1950), a brilliant French physician and polymath, began his collection of African and Oceanic art, following the First World War, with the acquisition of several spectacular smaller collections formed by European adventurers and missionaries in the early decades of the twentieth century. Chauvet pursued not only objects but also understanding of these genres with characteristic passion, and was the author of a number of seminal works on the arts of Africa, Easter Island and Polynesia, of which Les Arts Indegènes en Nouvelle-Guinée was his masterwork.