Kammavaca Ordination Book. Sutra. Burma, Myanmar

Burmese ordination manuscript from the beginning of the 19th century, complete, with its 16 "olles" (tallipot or latanier leaves) and 2 covers. The Kamavaca are made up of Buddhist texts or canons which govern life in monasteries, it is a Pali term describing an assembly of passages from the Tipitaka (Tripitaka, Triple Basket: The Theravada Buddhist canon) relating to ordination, granting of robes and other rituals of monastic life. It is usually commissioned as a work of merit and presented to monasteries when a son enters the Buddhist order as a novice or is ordained as a monk. The Pali text is written in black lacquer in ornate Burmese characters, known as the "tamarind seed" script, known as "square" script, which differs from the usual round Burmese script. The 16 double-sided boards are lacquered red, covered with finely incised decorations as well as gold-gilded ornamentation. The two wooden covers of this copy are still held in the remains of a monastic robe, the whole is pierced with a hole, formerly allowing binding with a thread. Provenance: Estate of collector and art dealer Claude de Marteau Sold with certificate of provenance. Very good state of conservation. Very rare signs of wear. L 56 cm x W 11 cm x H 4.5 cm