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LOT 2122
Gilt Burmese Buddhist Kammavaca Manuscript Group
KONBAUNG DYNASTY, 18TH-19TH CENTURY A.D.
11 1/2 - 23 1/2 in. (1.15 kg total, 29-56.5 cm).
Written in Pali in Burmese square script on gilded, lacquered and numbered palm leaves; each leaf is double-sided with the exception of one cover leaf which displays interlaced geometric panels populated with female figures, dragonesques and birds to one face; accompanied by an ornately decorated sword-shaped 'pointer', also gilded, possibly not belonging. [9, No Reserve]
ProvenanceLondon collection since the 1980s.
Property of a Canadian family.
Kammavaca is a Pali term describing an assemblage of passages from the Tipitaka (the Theravada Buddhist canon) relating to ordination, the bestowing of robes and other rituals of monastic life. The texts typically contain religious instructions for monks.
The piercings in the leaves are functional; each leaf was placed over a skewer (likely bamboo) when read.
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Chinese Glazed Terracotta Ram
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Modelled in the round standing on a rectangular base, decorated in a polychrome glaze, highlighting the horns, rump and hooves. 345 grams, 14 cm high
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Chinese Han Ceramic Animal Figure Group
Han Dynasty, 206 B.C.-220 A.D. or laterSold for (Inc. bp): £117
Including a horse, coiled snake and cattle animal, all with stylised anatomical detailing. 750 grams total, 7-11 cm
Acquired 1990s-early 2000s. East Anglian private collection.
The popularisation of these models of daily life called mingqi over the course of the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-220 A.D.) reflects dramatic changes in Chinese society. They are an exemplification of how power circulated beyond the imperial government and nobility to a broader bureaucratic classes, that looked for gratification for themselves and their families in the afterlife with clay, fashioned into models ranging from crude earthenware to fine glazed stoneware. -
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Large Chinese Tang Bronze 'Pagoda' Reliquary Stupa
Tang to Liao Dynasty, circa 907-1125 A.D. or laterEstimate: £4,000 - 6,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £2,000
With three-tiered square and stepped base showing bodhi leaves, flaming jewels and foliage tendrils respectively, surmounted by a pierced frieze, each side depicting a seated Buddha flanked by standing figures and clouds; with triple pitched and hipped roof elements rising above pierced wall panels; in turn all surmounted by a column with five graduated discs affixed and terminating in a four-lobed lamniform element. 4.9 kg, 59 cm
Fine condition.
Acquired 1960s to early 1970s. ‘Buckingham Collection’, the late Nik Douglas (1944-2012), renowned author, curator and Asian art expert.
