Book cover, wood

Museum number:
9-22007
Permalink:
ark:/21549/hm21090022007
Alternate number:
BY.T-155 and T-155 (original number)
Description:
This is a wooden book cover for a Buddhist text.There are five figures carved into wood, surrounded by a border and a floral sky. Left to right they are: Vajrasattva (East), Ratnasambhava (South), the principle figure-Amoghasiddha (North), Vairocana (Center), and Amitabha (West). The identification of these five is fairly certain, but lack or loss of detail in the carving introduces some doubt. These five Buddhas are typically pictured without crowns. In this scene, they all have crowns. Here we have Vajrasattva rather than the more typical Akshobhya in the East. Vajrasattva and Akshobhya are closely identified and are, in some limited contexts, interchangable.On the back is half of a mandala. Probably the mandala was carved first, accidentally broken in half, and, to conserve precious wood, the reverse side used to care this book cover.Compara with T-189. See also T-121. T-156, T-157, etc.
Collection place:
Tibet
Verbatim coll. place:
Tibet
Collector:
Theos C. Bernard
Materials:
Wood (plant material)
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Carvings (visual works)
Function:
7.0 Use not specified (Communication, Records, Currency, and Measures)
Production date:
18th-19th century
Department:
Asia (except western Russia)
Images:
Hearst Museum object 1 of 4 titled Book cover, wood, accession number 9-22007, described as This is a wooden book cover for a Buddhist text.There are five figures carved into wood, surrounded by a border and a floral sky. Left to right they are: Vajrasattva (East), Ratnasambhava (South), the principle figure-Amoghasiddha (North), Vairocana (Center), and Amitabha (West). The identification of these five is fairly certain, but lack or loss of detail in the carving introduces some doubt. These five Buddhas are typically pictured without crowns. In this scene, they all have crowns. Here we have Vajrasattva rather than the more typical Akshobhya in the East. Vajrasattva and Akshobhya are closely identified and are, in some limited contexts, interchangable.On the back is half of a mandala. Probably the mandala was carved first, accidentally broken in half, and, to conserve precious wood, the reverse side used to care this book cover.Compara with T-189. See also T-121. T-156, T-157, etc.Hearst Museum object 2 of 4 titled Book cover, wood, accession number 9-22007, described as This is a wooden book cover for a Buddhist text.There are five figures carved into wood, surrounded by a border and a floral sky. Left to right they are: Vajrasattva (East), Ratnasambhava (South), the principle figure-Amoghasiddha (North), Vairocana (Center), and Amitabha (West). The identification of these five is fairly certain, but lack or loss of detail in the carving introduces some doubt. These five Buddhas are typically pictured without crowns. In this scene, they all have crowns. Here we have Vajrasattva rather than the more typical Akshobhya in the East. Vajrasattva and Akshobhya are closely identified and are, in some limited contexts, interchangable.On the back is half of a mandala. Probably the mandala was carved first, accidentally broken in half, and, to conserve precious wood, the reverse side used to care this book cover.Compara with T-189. See also T-121. T-156, T-157, etc.Hearst Museum object 3 of 4 titled Book cover, wood, accession number 9-22007, described as This is a wooden book cover for a Buddhist text.There are five figures carved into wood, surrounded by a border and a floral sky. Left to right they are: Vajrasattva (East), Ratnasambhava (South), the principle figure-Amoghasiddha (North), Vairocana (Center), and Amitabha (West). The identification of these five is fairly certain, but lack or loss of detail in the carving introduces some doubt. These five Buddhas are typically pictured without crowns. In this scene, they all have crowns. Here we have Vajrasattva rather than the more typical Akshobhya in the East. Vajrasattva and Akshobhya are closely identified and are, in some limited contexts, interchangable.On the back is half of a mandala. Probably the mandala was carved first, accidentally broken in half, and, to conserve precious wood, the reverse side used to care this book cover.Compara with T-189. See also T-121. T-156, T-157, etc.Hearst Museum object 4 of 4 titled Book cover, wood, accession number 9-22007, described as This is a wooden book cover for a Buddhist text.There are five figures carved into wood, surrounded by a border and a floral sky. Left to right they are: Vajrasattva (East), Ratnasambhava (South), the principle figure-Amoghasiddha (North), Vairocana (Center), and Amitabha (West). The identification of these five is fairly certain, but lack or loss of detail in the carving introduces some doubt. These five Buddhas are typically pictured without crowns. In this scene, they all have crowns. Here we have Vajrasattva rather than the more typical Akshobhya in the East. Vajrasattva and Akshobhya are closely identified and are, in some limited contexts, interchangable.On the back is half of a mandala. Probably the mandala was carved first, accidentally broken in half, and, to conserve precious wood, the reverse side used to care this book cover.Compara with T-189. See also T-121. T-156, T-157, etc.

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