NARA PERIOD (ABOUT AD 770)

This is one of one million miniature wooden pagodas commissioned by Empress Shotoku in gratitude for the suppression of a rebellion by the Emi and in prayer for the future protection of the realm. Nine hundred thousand were distributed to temples throughout Japan and the remaining one hundred thousand to the Ten Great Temples in and around Nara (then the capital) but they have been dispersed over the centuries and today only the Horyuji retains some of its original allocation. The printed rolls are the oldest datable examples of printing in existence, with the possible exception of a single earlier Korean contender; it remains uncertain, however, whether the blocks were of wood or metal. For similar examples sold in Christie's New York Rooms, see 7 October 1988, lot 52 (The Donald and Mary Hyde Collection) and 16-17 October 1990, lot 501.