id:			124171
accession number:	1945.172
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1945.172
updated:		2023-03-20 14:14:07.499000

Kammavacha: Buddhist Ordination Text, 1800s. Myanmar (Burma). Cover: lacquer, gilding, and glass appliqué on wood; leaves: lacquer and gilding on cloth; covers: 13.1 cm (5 3/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Edward L. Whittemore Fund 1945.172

title:				Kammavacha: Buddhist Ordination Text
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			1800s
creation date earliest:		1800
creation date latest:		1899
current location:		
creditline:			Edward L. Whittemore Fund
copyright:			

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culture:	Myanmar (Burma)
technique:	Cover: lacquer, gilding, and glass appliqué on wood; leaves: lacquer and gilding on cloth
department:	Indian and Southeast Asian Art
collection:	Burmese Art
type:		Manuscript
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Covers: 13.1 cm (5 3/16 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Text and Image in Southern Asia​ (Indian Painting and Himalayan rotation)
	opening date:   2022-08-26T04:00:00
	<i>Text and Image in Southern Asia​ (Indian Painting and Himalayan rotation)</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 26, 2022-March 5, 2023).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

	(Grace M. Beaven [1889–1982], Cleveland Heights, OH, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
	date: ?–1945
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: 1945–
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact:
The Pali text of this manuscript is written in Burmese square script, which is also known as "tamarind seed script."

digital description:


wall description:
In premodern Burma, lay people commissioned lavishly ornamented manuscripts for ceremonial occasions, when officiants would read aloud from the text. Written in black lacquer, the text is in the language of Pali written in a Burmese script. It contains ordination rites and procedures for monastic ceremonies.<br> <br>The second to last page is covered with intricately drawn, winged celestial beings (<em>nats</em>) in gestures of praise. They fly amid intertwining vegetation—denoting bounty—that grows from serpentine forms that refer to rain clouds. Lionlike forms inhabit the space with them. The top and bottom covers are equally ornamented with jeweled floral patterning.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1945.172/1945.172_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1945.172/1945.172_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1945.172/1945.172_full.tif