
Mark Rasmussen
International Director
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Sold for US$6,250 inc. premium
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International Director
西藏 約十三世紀 木雕彩漆般若波羅蜜多護經板
Elaborately carved and well-preserved, the manuscript cover depicts the Tathagatas above each of their associated vehicles, with Vairocana at the center. Prajnaparamita and Shakyamuni are to the left and right. The broad physiognomy and profuse scrollwork are indicative of the Malla style of Nepal – the cover likely produced by a Newari craftsman for a Tibetan patron. Its narrow height suggests a c.13th century date, before larger folios became common.
Compare with a gilded Prajnaparamita manuscript from the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at Cambridge, published in Elliott, Diemberger & Clemente, Buddha's World, Cambridge, 2014, p.118, and another related manuscript cover in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, published in Pal, Art of Tibet, Los Angeles, 1983, p.130.
The underside retains much of its original painted decoration, featuring the ashtamangala and an impressively freehanded kirtimukha and lotus scroll border.
Provenance
Private Collection, New Zealand
Marcel Nies Oriental Art, Antwerp
Acquired from the above at TEFAF Maastricht, March 2007