- Gallery Text
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The texts sealed inside the sculpture of Prince Shōtoku indicate that the group of people who placed them there did not adhere rigidly to a single sectarian stream of Buddhist practices, but put their faith in a variety of devotional beliefs and merit-making activities. The printed text mounted at the top of this board is an invocation against epidemic diseases. The manuscript sheet at bottom right describes a meditation centered on visualization of the monk-deity Jizō. Patterns of staining on the two sheets of paper suggest that the smaller visualization text may have been rolled inside the larger printed text before being placed inside the sculpture.
- Identification and Creation
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- Object Number
- 2019.122.10
- Title
- Four Sheets of Paper inscribed with Religious Texts, Poems, Charms [mounted on a board]
- Classification
- Calligraphy
- Work Type
- calligraphy
- 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/96652
- Physical Descriptions
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- Medium
- Ink on paper
- Dimensions
- H. 30.5 x W. 40.6 cm (12 x 16 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
- 2019.122.10
- 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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Prince Shōtoku at Age Two (Shōtoku Taishi Nisaizō)
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One of Four Sheets of Paper inscribed with Religious Texts, Poems, Charms [mounted on a board]
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One of Four Sheets of Paper inscribed with Religious Texts, Poems, Charms [mounted on a board]
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One of Four Sheets of Paper inscribed with Religious Texts, Poems, Charms [mounted on a board]
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One of Four Sheets of Paper inscribed with Religious Texts, Poems, Charms [mounted on a board]
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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