- Gallery Text
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The booklets in this case are copies of Buddhist texts that could have easily been carried on the person. At right is a non-canonical text devoted to the deity Jizō, who appears in the guise of a monk to deliver humans from suffering. (A small wooden sculpture of Jizō was also placed inside the Sedgwick Shōtoku and is displayed nearby.) The text in the center has so far defied identification. The booklet on the left contains Chapter 25 of the Lotus Sutra, arguably the most widely known Buddhist scripture in East Asia. It describes how the compassionate deity Kannon will rescue those in peril if they call for aid. The bottom half of the first page has been worn away, perhaps by the caressing movement of a thumb across the page as the owner chanted the sacred words of the sutra over and over again.
- Identification and Creation
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- Object Number
- 2019.122.21
- Title
- Non-Canonical Text Devoted to Jizō Bosatsu (Bussetsu Jizō Bosatsukyō)
- Other Titles
- Transliterated Title: Bussetsu Jizō Bosatsukyō
- Classification
- Manuscripts
- Work Type
- manuscript
- Date
- Kamakura period, datable to circa 1292
- Places
- Creation Place: East Asia, Japan
- Period
- Kamakura period, 1185-1333
- Culture
- Japanese
- Persistent Link
- https://hvrd.art/o/199841
- Physical Descriptions
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- Medium
- Booklet manuscript; ink on paper; pages glued at binding, no hard cover
- Dimensions
- H. 11.9 × W. 6.1 cm (4 11/16 × 2 3/8 in.)
- Provenance
- [Yamanaka Shoji Co., Ltd, Awata Kyoto (1936)], sold; to Ellery Sedgwick, Beverly, MA, (1936-1960), passed; to his wife, Marjorie Russell, Beverly, MA (1960-1971), inherited; by Ellery Sedgwick, Jr., Gates Mills, Ohio, (1971-1991), inherited; by Walter Sedgwick, Woodside, CA, (1991-2019), partial and promised gift; to the Harvard Art Museums.
- Acquisition and Rights
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- Credit Line
- Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Partial and promised gift of Walter C. Sedgwick in memory of Ellery Sedgwick Sr. and Ellery Sedgwick Jr.
- Object Number
- 2019.122.21
- Division
- Asian and Mediterranean Art
- Contact
- am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
- The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.
- Publication History
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John M. Rosenfield, The Sedgwick Statue of the Infant Shotoku Taishi, Archives of Asian Art (1968-1969), Vol. XXII / pp. 56-79
- Exhibition History
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Prince Shōtoku: The Secrets Within, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 05/25/2019 - 08/11/2019
- Related Works
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This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu