Gilded and lacquered manuscript in Pali of the Burmese Kammavācā text, containing sections from the Vinaya Pitaka, the section of the Buddhist canon that deals with the monastic disciplinary code. Likely produced in the late 19th century. Manuscript codex. The leaves are of a hard, light, elastic material. It could be of lacquered woven bamboo or laminated palm leaf. Layout: Written in 13 long lines. Script: Written in black lacquered "tamarind seed script." Decoration: The manuscript is gilded and lacquered. The first and last leaves have pictures of a single god at either end. The borders have single rows of small circles, a woven rope-like pattern, and floral, feathery leaf patterns. These feathery leaf sprays also adorn the hatched lines in between the writing. The top and bottom wooden cover-boards are similarly decorated with paintings of... Binding: Decorated cover boards. The leaves have a hole near their left middle ends, probably used, by means of a wooden pin, to hold the leaves together. The binding ribbon (sarsekyo) appears to be quite modern. It appears to be made of pink and cream woven cotton, although it is unknown whether this binding ribbon originally belonged to the text. Origin: Likely produced in the late 19th century based on stylistic features. Shelfmark: Chicago, IL, University of Chicago Library, Ms1676.
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