2015.16: Section of Chapter 17 from the "Ten Practices" Volume of the Flower Ornament Sutra (J: Daihōkōbutsu kegonkyō; Skt: Avatamsaka-sutra)

Identification and Creation

Object Number

2015.16

Title

Section of Chapter 17 from the "Ten Practices" Volume of the Flower Ornament Sutra (J: Daihōkōbutsu kegonkyō; Skt: Avatamsaka-sutra)

Other Titles

Alternate Title: Senpukuji kyō

Classification

Calligraphy

Work Type

hanging scroll, calligraphy

Date

second half 11th century

Places

Creation Place: East Asia, Japan

Period

Heian period, 794-1185

Culture

Japanese

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/352832

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Handscroll fragment mounted as a hanging scroll; ink on light indigo-dyed paper with gold-leaf foil flakes and gold-ruled lines

Dimensions

sutra fragment: H. 22.8 x W. 51.4 cm (9 x 20 1/4 in.)
silk mounting only: H. 105.9 x W. 52.8 cm (41 11/16 x 20 13/16 in.)
full mounting, including cord and roller ends: H. 111 x W. 57.2 cm (43 11/16 x 22 1/2 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History

[London Gallery, Ltd., Tokyo (by 1999)], sold; to the Harvard Art Museums 2015.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Purchase through the generosity of the David L. Klein, Jr. Foundation in honor of Sylvan Barnet and in memory of William Burto

Accession Year

2015

Object Number

2015.16

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

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Descriptions

Description

This sutra fragment (mounted as a hanging scroll) is a remnant of a set thought to have been originally dedicated to the temple Senpukuji in Osaka. The text comes from the Flower Ornament Sutra (Avatamsaka sutra in Sanskrit, Daihōkōbutsu kegonkyō in Japanese), a Buddhist text that arrived in Japan during the Nara period (710-784). The sutra’s lessons of universal unity personified by the Cosmic Buddha Vairochana proved essential to the Nara court’s establishment of Buddhism as Japan’s state religion.

At some point in the past the sutra was damaged in a fire, which scorched its edges but left much of the text and decorated paper intact. The paper is dyed with indigo to a light blue color and decorated with scattered flakes of gold leaf. Gold pigment was used to create the delicate guidelines within which the text was inscribed in ink. Based on the paper decoration and manner of calligraphy, which is written in evenly spaced, horizontally balanced characters, scorched Senpukuji sutras such as this are considered masterpieces of devotional art from the second half of the 11th century.

Publication History

• Buddhist Sutra Fragments, auct. cat. (Tokyo, Japan, 1999), p. 14 and 31, no. 10-A
• Scrolls of Faith, auct. cat. (Tokyo, Japan, 2007), pp. 34-35, no. 14

Verification Level