Burmese Palm Leaf Pali Prayer Manuscript, Myanmar, 19th Century

Conch shell recipient and container for holy water used in ceremonies. Known as “Buddha ears”, they were mounted as a sound instrument. Such shells are important ritual objects in Tibetan Buddhism...

Slab pottery constructed Model of a Paper Mill, in Green and Cream Color Glazed Terracotta having a peaked roof – open walled form with a mechanical pounder and a large round storage container. Light blue-green mottled glazed surface with some iridescence patina to the glaze. The Iridescence is a refraction of the layers on the glass that produces multicolor hues & metallic luster, and only develops after one thousand years of being buried in the ground. An unquestionable mark of antiquity, impossible to falsify. Han Dynasty, dated 206 B.C-220 A.D. Condition: Excellent, wear commensurate with age, an unusual example. This fantastic piece is accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity. Sculptural effigies of domesticated animals were often interred in the tombs of nobility and elite members of the social hierarchy. Models like this one were made to represent everything from simple goat or pig pens to the most elaborate towers and palaces. Because very few ancient Chinese buildings have survived intact, these models, along with descriptions from ancient texts, give a good representation of what the buildings might have looked like. Burial figurines of graceful dancers, mystical beasts, and everyday objects reveal both how people in early China approached death and how they lived. Since people viewed the afterlife as an extension of worldly life, these figurines, called mingqi, sometimes referred as “spirit utensils” or “vessels of ghosts” disclose details of routine existence and provide insights into belief systems over a thousand-year period. For the first time in Chinese history, we have images of rural and daily life during the Han in the form of contemporary records...

19th century or earlier, Sri Lankan rice paper prayer book tied with wooden binding. Beautiful Objet d'Art with prayers written in beautiful Sinhalese script. Can be separated and...

An antique Burmese set of sixteen double-sided Kammavaca or Buddhist manuscripts, written in Bali in red and black lacquer on a gold leaf ground. This set is accompanied by the original pair of gold leaf and red lacquer pictorial cover boards. Kammavaca are volumes consisting of extracts from the Theravadin Vinaya, that relates to the traditional ceremonies of monks. Together with a manuscript chest...