Silk Road Art and Archaeology, Vol. 6: Papers in Honour of Francine Tissot (Book Review‪)‬

Silk Road Art and Archaeology, vol. 6: Papers in Honour of Francine Tissot. Edited by ELIZABETH ERRINGTON and OSMUND BOPEARACHCHI. Kamakura: INSTITUTE OF SILK ROAD STUDIES, 1999/2000. This special issue of the journal Silk Road Art and Archaeology serves as a model Festschrift dedicated to the much esteemed scholar of Gandharan arts and culture, Francine Tissot. (1) The volume comprises twenty-two articles which, as a whole, can be characterized as exemplary products of careful research by scholars of the finest caliber. Their methodologies are in general unapologetically traditional and focused on examination and analysis of archaeological evidence. Art historians, archaeologists, numismatists, epigraphers, and philologists contributed papers that lead us toward a clearer understanding of the art and cultural history of Gandhara and its associated regions. While most of the topics concern issues in the art of Gandhara and Bactria (regions within modern Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan) from the first century B.C. to the third century A.D., some involve aspects of Buddhist iconography, Central Asian textiles, Kushan and Hun numismatics, Indian epigraphy, Buddhist art in early Medieval Gujarat, and more. Such diversity of topics at first glance may detract from the cohesion of the volume; however, when one reads the introductory note by Francine Tissot and reflects upon the nature of her own publications, a certain unity becomes apparent, in that the articles address three major concerns of Mme. Tissot: contextualizing works of art, identifying objects used in everyday life, and discerning interregional connections.