Object Record
Images
1965073005.jpg)
1965073005-2.jpg)
Metadata
Catalog Number |
(TR)1965.073.005 |
Object Name |
Manuscript |
Description |
This palm-leaf manuscript is a Buddhist sacred writing. It features Thai characters inscribed by priests on strips of palm leaves. A passage from Jessie Ackermann's book The World Through A Woman's Eyes details how she acquired this artifact in Siam (former name of Thailand) during her travels there in the late 1800s: "I came across numbers of them reading from their sacred books, a copy of which I very much desired. I asked my guide to try to buy one, but the devout priest told him he dared not sell it, though if I would put the silver down he would go away while I took the volume. His conscience being thus easily satisfied, I became the possessor of one of these books, which is a great curiosity. Some sharp-pointed instrument on long polished strips from the fan palm-tree scratches the letters. When these artistic characters have been formed, the leaf is rubbed with a black preparation to bring out the letters. The strips are then placed one upon the other in the order of reading, and the whole is bound together with a silk cord (178)." |
Date |
c. 1880s |
Collection |
Ackermann Collection |
Place of Origin |
Asia/Siam (Thailand) |
Material |
palm leaves, silk cord |
Subjects |
sacred |
Search Terms |
Buddhism Buddhist Manuscript |