Page 16 - japanese and korean art Utterberg Collection Christie's March 22 2022

涅槃寂静 | THE COLLECTION OF DAVID AND NAYDA UTTERBERG (LOTs 1-20)

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ANONYMOUS (JAPAN, 12TH CENTURY)
Section of the Flower Ornament Sutra, known as
Senpukujikyo
Fragment of handscroll mounted as a hanging scroll; ink, gold ruled
lines and flecks of gold leaf on indigo-dyed paper
9¡ x 20¿ in. (23.8 x 51.1 cm.)

$30,000-40,000
華厳経断簡 (泉福寺経)

PROVENANCE:
Yamada Collection, Kamakura
Kososhi Unshodo, Kyoto, 29 Nov. 2002

This scorched fragment is from the Flower Ornament Sutra
(Kegonkyo) from Senpukuj, a temple in Osaka. The sutra records
the sermons delivered by Shakyamuni Buddha immediately after his
enlightenment. At some point, this set of scrolls was damaged by
fire; the pieces that survived were mounted as hanging scrolls and
sold after World War II. Other examples are in the Freer Gallery
of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, a gift of Sylvan
Barnet and William Burto in 2014, and the Nezu Museum, Tokyo.
The ornate paper and elegant script of the Japanese aristocracy are
characteristic of the late Heian period, c. 1100.

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