Artwork Page for Leaf from a Buddhist Manuscript (recto)

Details / Information for Leaf from a Buddhist Manuscript (recto)

Leaf from a Buddhist Manuscript (recto)

c. 1700

Sri Lanka, Singhalese, Late 17th century

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Medium
fiber paper
Measurements
Overall: 6.4 cm (2 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Educational Purchase Fund 1949.227.76.a
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

Palm leaf material is still used for manuscripts in Sri Lanka. The palm leaves are prepared first by boiling them, drying them in the sun, and then rubbing them with oils. Scribes then use a metal stylus to incise the text. Then charcoal powder is wiped across the pages, filling in only the inscribed lines.
Horizontally oriented light tan fiber paper is inked with rows of rounded, undulating black script. Two small circular holes puncture the leaf near the center. Splotches and streaks of red pigment smear across sections of text, while small vertical characters mark the far left edge. Fine horizontal fiber lines run throughout the textured surface, visible beneath the ink.

Leaf from a Buddhist Manuscript (recto)

c. 1700

Sri Lanka, Singhalese, Late 17th century

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