Lot Essay
In 770 the Empress Shotoku commissioned 1,000,000 of these pagodas (hyakumanto) each containing printed texts of four types. She gave them to 10 large temples in Nara as a token of her gratitude to Buddha for the suppression of civil war. Each temple received 100,000 pagodas containing Dharani but all were subsequently burned with the exception of Horyuji.
A similar example from the Donald and Mary Hyde Collection was sold in Christie's New York, 7 October 1988, lot 52.
A similar example from the Donald and Mary Hyde Collection was sold in Christie's New York, 7 October 1988, lot 52.