EASTERN HAN PERIOD, CIRCA 2ND CENTURY

Details

a chinese, niya style, wooden tablet in karoshti script
eastern han period, circa 2nd century
An opened rectangular wooden document comprising upper and lower section that fit together and secured with strings, the upper part with additional clay seals, both in classical style, with on the left a king and on the right a winged horse
27 x 10 cm

Literature

Spink and Son, Treasures from the Silk Road, London, November 1999, nr. 5

Special notice

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Lot Essay

The inscriptions can apparently be identified as follow: The cover is addressed to a monk called Sronasena and the document concerns a woman named Ramasria from the Catisa Devi estate. The inscription below the seals identifies them as the seals of the administrative officer Pideyalya and the functionary Punasena. The main inscription on the inside is dated as year 2 of King Vasmana (circa 315 AD) and concerns a woman named Sacgia, the slave of Ramasria who is the sister of the monk Sronasena. The document requests Sacgia be sent to work on the Catisa estate and that the payment for her services will be a four-year old camel, given by Ramasria to Sronasena. The last two lines record the name and titles of the witness and scribe, Nandasena.

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