Page 12 - Bonhams Indian and Himalayan Art September 2013

4 4
5 A gilt polychromed wood manuscript cover
Tibet, circa 13th century
6 Carved with two interlaced foliate sprays issuing from a garuda mask, set
10 | Bonhams within a beaded border and outer rim consisting of a single foliate scroll
interwoven throughout three edges and the fourth with intertwining
couplets; the sides with blossoms.
27 x 8 1/4 in. (68.5 x 21 cm)
$5,000 - 6,000

Provenance:
Sotheby’s, New York, 16 September 1999, lot 75

5
A gilt polychromed wood manuscript cover
Tibet, 13th century
The central medallion with large stylized scrolling forms bordered by a
beaded rim and a band with curling leaf motif emerging from each center
of the outer rim; one edge with gilt kirtimukha mask and floral sprays.
26 x 10 3/4 in. (66 x 27.3 cm)
$5,000 - 7,000

For a closely related example of almost identical ornate features, see
Weldon, Early Tibetan Manuscript Covers: 12th-15th century, London,
1996, no. 13, also see no. 12.

Provenance:
Sotheby’s, New York, 16 September 1999, lot 82

6
Two gilt polychromed manuscript book covers
Tibet, 13th-15th century
One with diamond medallions of two turning lions, the ashta mangala,
and a dragon, set within an outer rim of floral sprays issuing from twin
peacocks at the center above and a flaming, lotus-born triratna below;
an edge with kirtimukha; the other with interlacing foliate scrolls and an
outer rim depicting different stages of the lotus blossom encircled by a
single stem; an edge with kirtimukha and reverse with concentric rings.
11 1/2 x 30 5/8 in. (29.2 x 77.7 cm) & 11 3/8 x 28 1/4 in. (29 x 71.8 cm)
$4,000 - 6,000

The cover with diamond medallions belongs to a group distinguished for
their rich gilding and shallow carved abstract design, four of which are
discussed in Selig Brown, Protecting Wisdom, Canada, 2012, nos. 18-21,
pp. 98-104. Compare in particular the medallions, peacocks, flaming
jewels, and effusively applied gold of the present lot to no. 19. A fifth
example of this group was published alongside the present lot in Weldon,
Early Tibetan manuscript covers, London, 1996, no. 20. The other cover in
this lot features an inside face with concentric circles on a red background
which Selig Brown notes was popular amongst the 14th & 15th centuries
(Brown, 2012, p. 157).

Published:
Weldon, Early Tibetan Manuscript Covers: 12th - 15th century, 1996, no. 21.

Provenance:
Rossi & Rossi, 1996
Sotheby’s, New York, 16 September 1999, lots 76 & 80