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Lot Essay
First book cover: Cartouche
Translation:
Vinaya — Volume cha: Vinayavibhaṅga
Second book cover: Table of Contents
Translation:
Tantra — Volume na, twelfth part
(1) The Dhāraṇī “One Hundred Thousand Ornaments of the Essence of Awakening” (Bodhigarbhālaṅkāralakṣadhāraṇī)
(2) The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra, the Dhāraṇī “The Receptacle of Secret Relics, Quintessence of the Blessings of All the Thus-Gone Ones” (Āryasarvatathāgatādhiṣṭhānahṛdayaguhyadhātukaraṇḍanāmadhāraṇīmahāyānasūtra)
(3) The Noble Mahāsūtra “On Entering the City of Vaiśālī” (Vaiśālīpraveśamahāsūtra)
(4) The Noble Dhāraṇī “Purifying All Karmic Obscurations” (Āryasarvakarmāvaraṇaviśodhanīnāmadhāraṇī)
(5) The Noble Dhāraṇī of the Buddha’s Essence (Āryabuddhahṛdayanāmadhāraṇī)
(6) The Noble Discourse of the Dhāraṇī of the Buddha’s Essence (Āryabuddhahṛdayanāmadhāraṇīdharmaparyāya)
(7) The Noble Dhāraṇī “Endowed with the Attributes of All the Buddhas” (Āryasarvabuddhāṅgavatīnāmadhāraṇī)
(8) The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra “The Twelve Buddhas” (Āryadvādaśabuddhakanāmamahāyānasūtra)
(9) The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra “The Seven Buddhas” (Āryasaptabuddhakanāmamahāyānasūtra)
(10) The Dhāraṇī-Mantra of the Blessed One Amitābha (Bhagavadamitābhadhāraṇīmantra)
(11) The Noble Dhāraṇī “Stainless” (Āryavimalanāmadhāraṇī)
(12) The Noble Dhāraṇī “Distinguished” (Āryaviśeṣavatināmadhāraṇī)
(13) The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra “The Eight Maṇḍalas”(Āryāaṣṭamaṇḍalanāmamahāyānasūtra)
(14) The Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom, the Blessed Mother (Bhagavatīprajñāpāramitāhṛdaya)
(15) The Noble Root Manual of the Rites of Mañjuśrī (Āryamañjuśrīmūlakalpa)
Qiangjin, a technique popular in China during the Ming dynasty and in Japan during the Muromachi period, literally translates to “etched gold.” The design is first incised onto the lacquerware using either needles or knives (needles being more commonly used by Chinese artisans). Gold paint, foil, or powder is then applied into the carved grooves, making the pattern visible against the lacquer surface. This technique lends the ornament a refined and elegant quality.
On both sutra covers in the present lot, one side is decorated with a flaming cintamani emblem set on a lotus throne, with radiating rays forming a halo. The reverse features inscriptions in Chinese and Tibetan within a large lotus-petal cartouche, listing the sutras contained within. The inscription of the shorter cartouche comes from the Kangyur texts belonging to the Vinaya section, containing the Vinayavibhanga. The longer inscription also come from Kangyur volumes and lists a series of dharani texts and Mahayana sutras, concluding with the Manjushrimulakalpa.
A similar set of covers, formerly in the Florence and Herbert Irving Collection and dated to circa 1410, is now in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art (J.C.Y. Watt and B.B. Ford, East Asian Lacquer: The Florence and Herbert Irving Collection, 1991, pp. 116 & 117). The authors note that these lacquered covers provide the earliest examples of Ming-style qiangjin work.
More recently, a pair of qiangjin gilt-decorated red-lacquered sutra covers from the Yongle period sold at Christie’s, New York on 23-24 March 2023, lot 1212.
Translation:
Vinaya — Volume cha: Vinayavibhaṅga
Second book cover: Table of Contents
Translation:
Tantra — Volume na, twelfth part
(1) The Dhāraṇī “One Hundred Thousand Ornaments of the Essence of Awakening” (Bodhigarbhālaṅkāralakṣadhāraṇī)
(2) The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra, the Dhāraṇī “The Receptacle of Secret Relics, Quintessence of the Blessings of All the Thus-Gone Ones” (Āryasarvatathāgatādhiṣṭhānahṛdayaguhyadhātukaraṇḍanāmadhāraṇīmahāyānasūtra)
(3) The Noble Mahāsūtra “On Entering the City of Vaiśālī” (Vaiśālīpraveśamahāsūtra)
(4) The Noble Dhāraṇī “Purifying All Karmic Obscurations” (Āryasarvakarmāvaraṇaviśodhanīnāmadhāraṇī)
(5) The Noble Dhāraṇī of the Buddha’s Essence (Āryabuddhahṛdayanāmadhāraṇī)
(6) The Noble Discourse of the Dhāraṇī of the Buddha’s Essence (Āryabuddhahṛdayanāmadhāraṇīdharmaparyāya)
(7) The Noble Dhāraṇī “Endowed with the Attributes of All the Buddhas” (Āryasarvabuddhāṅgavatīnāmadhāraṇī)
(8) The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra “The Twelve Buddhas” (Āryadvādaśabuddhakanāmamahāyānasūtra)
(9) The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra “The Seven Buddhas” (Āryasaptabuddhakanāmamahāyānasūtra)
(10) The Dhāraṇī-Mantra of the Blessed One Amitābha (Bhagavadamitābhadhāraṇīmantra)
(11) The Noble Dhāraṇī “Stainless” (Āryavimalanāmadhāraṇī)
(12) The Noble Dhāraṇī “Distinguished” (Āryaviśeṣavatināmadhāraṇī)
(13) The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra “The Eight Maṇḍalas”(Āryāaṣṭamaṇḍalanāmamahāyānasūtra)
(14) The Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom, the Blessed Mother (Bhagavatīprajñāpāramitāhṛdaya)
(15) The Noble Root Manual of the Rites of Mañjuśrī (Āryamañjuśrīmūlakalpa)
Qiangjin, a technique popular in China during the Ming dynasty and in Japan during the Muromachi period, literally translates to “etched gold.” The design is first incised onto the lacquerware using either needles or knives (needles being more commonly used by Chinese artisans). Gold paint, foil, or powder is then applied into the carved grooves, making the pattern visible against the lacquer surface. This technique lends the ornament a refined and elegant quality.
On both sutra covers in the present lot, one side is decorated with a flaming cintamani emblem set on a lotus throne, with radiating rays forming a halo. The reverse features inscriptions in Chinese and Tibetan within a large lotus-petal cartouche, listing the sutras contained within. The inscription of the shorter cartouche comes from the Kangyur texts belonging to the Vinaya section, containing the Vinayavibhanga. The longer inscription also come from Kangyur volumes and lists a series of dharani texts and Mahayana sutras, concluding with the Manjushrimulakalpa.
A similar set of covers, formerly in the Florence and Herbert Irving Collection and dated to circa 1410, is now in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art (J.C.Y. Watt and B.B. Ford, East Asian Lacquer: The Florence and Herbert Irving Collection, 1991, pp. 116 & 117). The authors note that these lacquered covers provide the earliest examples of Ming-style qiangjin work.
More recently, a pair of qiangjin gilt-decorated red-lacquered sutra covers from the Yongle period sold at Christie’s, New York on 23-24 March 2023, lot 1212.