Page 47 - Bonhams Japanese Art and Antiqes sept 2015_Float

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A HYAKUMANTO PAGODA AND ASSOCIATED INVOCATION
Nara period (ca. 764-770)
From the set of Hyakumanto (One Million Pagodas), a three-tier
pagoda turned from hinoki (Japanese cypress) and sakaki (Cleyera
ochnacea), the detachable finial covering an interior cavity containing a
block-printed dharani (charm) in scroll form
With a wood storage box
8 1/4in (21cm) high
$2,000 - 3,000

Another example of one of the One Million Pagodas and invocation
is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession
number 30.47a-c

In 764, the Empress Koken (later known as Empress Shotoku, 718-
770) is reported to have commissioned one million small wooden
votive pagodas, each with a hollow space to enshrine a one
woodblock-printed scroll of a darani, to be distributed to kokubunji
(temples in each province of the country) in 770. The scrolls are
believed to be among the oldest extant examples of printed material
in the world.

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FINE JAPANESE WORKS OF ART | 45