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Source Description

This accordion-folded, illustrated manuscript was most likely produced in the culturally Tai regions of Northeast India or Northern Myanmar (Burma). A compilation of several texts, it is partly in Burmese script and partly in Tai (also called Lik Tai). It begins with a Burmese script recording a Pali language Buddhist formula that is repeated on most Tai books of this type. Other passages are also quite clearly Buddhist in nature, so it is likely a series of religious fragments brought together in a single volume and then copied. It largely written in Lik Tai with occasional Burmese phrases seamlessly incorporated into the text. It also includes a diagrammatic representation of the pre-Buddhist Tai calendar, diagrams suggestive of divination, and several illustrations representative of Tai style painting of the nineteenth century.

Scholar Source Context

Document identity
localId
77281
label
Divination Manuscript
core
obj
dtoType
manuscript
pageCount
14
Source metadata
id
77281
contentType
manuscript
stage
normalized
title
Divination Manuscript
description
This accordion-folded, illustrated manuscript was most likely produced in the culturally Tai regions of Northeast India or Northern Myanmar (Burma). A compilation of several texts, it is partly in Burmese script and partly in Tai (also called Lik Tai). It begins with a Burmese script recording a Pali language Buddhist formula that is repeated on most Tai books of this type. Other passages are also quite clearly Buddhist in nature, so it is likely a series of religious fragments brought together in a single volume and then copied. It largely written in Lik Tai with occasional Burmese phrases seamlessly incorporated into the text. It also includes a diagrammatic representation of the pre-Buddhist Tai calendar, diagrams suggestive of divination, and several illustrations representative of Tai style painting of the nineteenth century.
provenance
Purchased by Dr. Pratapaditya Pal [1]; Sale, Christie's, New York, March 20 2008, lot 401; purchased by Michael de Havenon, New York, 2008; given to Walters Art Museum, 2016.[1] From a book dealer in northeast India
date
19th century
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
manuscripts
treatises
imageCount
14
pageCount
14
source
import
hasTranscription
no
Source extras
dimensions
units
cm
width
12
height
34.3
depth
3
med
ink and paint on paper bound between painted paper
cul
Tai
creator_ids
2191
16194
collection_ids
INT
MSS
exhibition_ids
none
dimensionsRaw
H: 4 3/4 x W: 13 1/2 x D: 1 3/16 in. (12 x 34.3 x 3 cm)
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
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a35329758776d036
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no
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no
seq
2
type
photo
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85ba2571a31660dc
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type
photo
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no
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no
seq
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type
photo
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no
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type
photo
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type
photo
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type
photo
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type
photo
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3c4dffa24d9aae56
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no
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type
photo
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no
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type
photo
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no
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type
photo
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no
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no
seq
12
type
photo
mediaId
40bf4a941386089e
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no
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no
seq
13
type
photo
mediaId
1f802ab826ed1923
hasOcr
no
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no
seq
14
type
photo
mediaId
488c5e1cf221b87d
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no