Section of Avatamsaka Sutra

8th century

This fragment is part of a set of sixty handscrolls of Flower Garland Sutra (Kegonkyo), which were donated to the Todaiji temple in Nara in 744. A fire in 1667 at the Nigatsudo Hall of the temple damaged the scrolls. Eleven years after the fire, the scrolls were repaired, but gradually they were dispersed to different collections and sections were remounted as hanging scrolls, such as this one. The damaged edges with burned marks convey the Buddhist idea of impermanence and make these fragments rather prized.

Silver on indigo paper

image: 9 3/4 x 14 1/2 in. (24.8 x 36.8 cm)

overall: 40 3/4 x 20 in. (103.5 x 50.8 cm)

Gift of Mary and Cheney Cowles

2020.23.2

Provenance: Private collection, Tokyo, Japan; [Koichi Yanagi Gallery, New York]; purchased from gallery by Cheney Cowles, Seattle, Washington, 2009; to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 2020

Photo: Jueqian Fang

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Boundless: Stories of Asian Art, Feb. 8, 2020 - ongoing [on view July 16 - Dec. 5, 2021].

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