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Lot 8
A FINE CARVED WOODEN MANUSCRIPT COVER
Estimated Value:
900 € - 1.200 €
Result:
1.100 € incl. Premium and VAT
Description:
Tibet, ca. 12th c.22,5 x 67 cm
This impressive book cover shows four masterfully carved volutes. Each one is finely nuanced and elaborately carved. The volutes surround a torana containing the historical Buddha Shakyamuni. The Buddha is seated on a lotus, and is surrounded by allegorical animal symbols, which emphasise his status as Cakravartin. At the highest point of this richly designed niche is the mythical "Lord of the Feathered Creatures" - Garuda, holding a snake in his beak. Below, two birds with bushy tail feathers facing each other can be seen. Two stylised rams with shaggy tail ends follow below on the left and right. Below the lotus throne, a lion crouches to the left and right, symbolic of the "lion-voiced" Buddha. Buddha Shakyamuni is depicted in the posture indicative of his enlightenment, with his right hand in the gesture of testimony invocation, his left lying meditatively relaxed in his lap. A beaded border encloses the carefully worked inner field. The narrow side (title page) of this panel shows carved half-figures, some of which are only vaguely recognisable. On the left is Vajrapani, followed by Manjushri and in the centre the four-armed Avalokiteshvara Shadakshari with the mala in his right raised hand. Then follows the green Tara, with her right leg outstretched, and another figure no longer clearly identifiable, perhaps Acala (?). Book covers were designed to protect a larger or smaller number of loosely superimposed, double-sided written or printed book pages. The text pages were wrapped in a cloth and tied with a ribbon. This kept the book pages dust-tight but not airtight, a particularly effective protection. This bundle was then placed between the two protecting, and in the larger formats also weighing down, book covers. The books "bound" in this way were then stored lengthwise in Tibetan monasteries or temples, each in a niche provided for this purpose in the often room-high bookshelves of the library halls. Some of these book covers were elaborately decorated, carved, studded and painted with silver and other metals, etc., and are now sought-after collectors' and study objects. Hard wood, remains of polychrome pigments and gold.
From a German private collection, acquired before 2007
See an example of the barely recognisable coloured painting: Early Tibetan Manuscript Covers; Rossi & Rossi, London, 1996:14. - Traces of age, wear and slightly chipped
