Provenance:
Rossi & Rossi, London, 1996
European Private Collection
Published:
David Weldon, Early Tibetan Manuscript Covers: 12th-15th century, Rossi & Rossi, London, 1996, no. 17
Steven M. Kossak and Jane Casey Singer, Sacred Visions, Early Paintings from Central Tibet, Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition catalogue, New York, 1998, p. 13, fig. 7
Jane Casey, Naman Parmeshwar Ahuja, and David Weldon, Divine Presence: Arts of India and the Himalayas, Casa Asia exhibition catalogue, Barcelona, 2003, pp. 124-125, no. 36
Gold, silver, and jewels—the precious materials painted on the outer surface of this book cover—suggest the value associated with the text within. The stems of the lush scrolling vegetation are borne by deer, each wearing a golden collar. Fabulous kirttimukha masks guard the shorter borders. The precise, jewel-encrusted shapes and the flowing scroll work of this book cover recall similar patterns seen in other early Tibetan works of art. From Kharakhoto in Central Asia[1] to the Taglung monastery in Central Tibet, the gods and their thrones are adorned with such jewel motifs.[2]
Tibetan manuscripts, whose format was inspired by Indian palm-leaf manuscripts, were originally contained between two wooden covers, which in turn were wrapped in cloth to protect them. These wooden covers were richly decorated, with the designs and iconography often indicating the contents of the scripture they contained.
It is difficult to underestimate the importance to Tibet and the Buddhist faith of these types of classical manuscript covers. As objects that once acted as the entrance to, and enabled the protection of, sacred Buddhist texts, they are regarded as part of the Dharma (the Teaching), and, as such, are to be revered as greatly as one would the Buddha. This manuscript cover would have been specially commissioned by a monastery or wealthy family to protect a sacred text of the Buddhist canon. This cover was fashioned from hardwood, a material difficult to obtain in Central Tibet, and no expense was spared in its construction.
1 See Mikhail Piotrovsky, ed., Lost Empire of the Silk Road: Buddhist Art from Kharakhoto (X-XIII century). Milano: Electa and Fondazione Thyssen-Bornemisza, 1993, no. 2, p. 107, a 12th-century painting of Buddha in vajrasana with the cushion supporting the lotus seat of Pala origin: see also von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, no. 71b, a 12th-century bronze Buddha
2 See Pratapaditya Pal, Tibetan Paintings. Basel: Ravi Kumar/Sotheby Publications, 1988, pl. 8: a Ratnasambhava painting in the Jucker Collection. Also, Singer, "Painting in Central Tibet: ca. 950-1400." Artibus Asiae, fig. 3 and 4a, mural paintings in Drathang, 12th century; fig. 7, 12th-century Tara painting; fig. 25, Taglung portrait of Thangpa Chenpo, 13th century, and others