Some manuscripts are never meant to be read, at least not by human eyes. This 13th-century statue of Prince Shōtoku from Harvard University was filled with manuscripts, including prayers by nuns, that were only discovered 700 years later. #manuscriptmonday harvardartmuseums.org/tour/603/ - ThreadSky

About ThreadSky

bryandaniellowe.bsky.social • 13 days ago

Some manuscripts are never meant to be read, at least not by human eyes. This 13th-century statue of Prince Shōtoku from Harvard University was filled with manuscripts, including prayers by nuns, that were only discovered 700 years later. #manuscriptmonday
https://harvardartmuseums.org/tour/603/

1 / 2

Comments

douglas8887.bsky.social•12 days ago

The entire reason to write something down is so it can be read.

mcmullen.bsky.social•13 days ago

Im curious from where and how Sedgwick got this statue. Surely this is documented somewhere, but the 1930s was an interesting time for an American media mogul to acquire Japanese antiquities.

bryandaniellowe.bsky.social•13 days ago

I'm sure there's even more to the story, but it seems like Sedgwick basically acknowledged he was aware of the law prohibiting exports of original works of art, and an art dealer, with a wink and a nod, said maybe this is just a replica and sold it to him (it wasn't). http://www.jstor.org/stable/29780531

peterromaskiewicz.bsky.social•12 days ago

The article refers to the art dealer as Mr. Yamanaka, this must be Yamanaka Sadajirō. His family was Osaka-based art dealers who opened stores around the US & world staring in NYC in 1894. Yamanaka & Co. helped build out many of the largest US collections of Japanese art, not surprising Sedgwick

peterromaskiewicz.bsky.social•12 days ago

knew him. Presuming nothing nefarious, I wonder if the early 1930s depression motivated some temples to sell off objects to art dealers like Yamanaka. Curious story, nonetheless, of the icon leaving Japan.

Posting Rules

Be respectful to others
No spam or self-promotion
Stay on topic
Follow Bluesky's terms of service

Comments

Posting Rules

Reply