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Textile Wrapper for Jingoji Sutras

A work made of bamboo, silk, mica, and gilt bronze.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of bamboo, silk, mica, and gilt bronze.

Date:

12th century

Artist:

Japan

About this artwork

This wrapper would have held 10 sutra scrolls.  It is made of about 300 strips of bamboo dyed black and fastened with colorful braided silk cords, the coloring of which softly shades from green to white to orange-red. Under the bamboo is a sheet of mica that gives the wrapper added opulence and also protects the sutra from water. Three wrought-metal butterflies adorn the embroidered silk frame. The wooden tag affixed to the wrapper says, “Rules and Laws on Lives of Monks and Nuns (Maka sôgi ritsu).”

The lacquer box, only 45 of which remain, is also from the same set. Each box would have held several wrappers and about 60 sutra scrolls. The contents of this particular box, which did not include the scroll on display, are written in red lacquer on the outside.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Arts of Asia

Title

Textile Wrapper for Jingoji Sutras

Place

Japan (Object made in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1099–1199

Medium

Bamboo, silk, mica, and gilt bronze

Dimensions

45.5 × 31.1 cm (17 3/4 × 12 3/16 in.)

Credit Line

Purchased with Funds Provided by the Weston Foundation; Alyce and Edwin DeCosta and the Walter E. Heller Foundation Fund

Reference Number

2008.158

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/193242/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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