• An antique Japanese sutra box with three volumes of sacred scriptures. The black lacquered sutra box is covered with a gold maki-e pattern symbolizing good luck, power and resilience. The box features the peony mon, and a hishi mon.
  • An antique Japanese sutra box with three volumes of sacred scriptures. The black lacquered sutra box is covered with a gold maki-e pattern symbolizing good luck, power and resilience. The box features the peony mon, and a hishi mon.
  • An antique Japanese sutra box with three volumes of sacred scriptures. The black lacquered sutra box is covered with a gold maki-e pattern symbolizing good luck, power and resilience. The box features the peony mon, and a hishi mon.
  • An antique Japanese sutra box with three volumes of sacred scriptures. The black lacquered sutra box is covered with a gold maki-e pattern symbolizing good luck, power and resilience. The box features the peony mon, and a hishi mon.
  • An antique Japanese sutra box with three volumes of sacred scriptures. The black lacquered sutra box is covered with a gold maki-e pattern symbolizing good luck, power and resilience. The box features the peony mon, and a hishi mon.
  • An antique Japanese sutra box with three volumes of sacred scriptures. The black lacquered sutra box is covered with a gold maki-e pattern symbolizing good luck, power and resilience. The box features the peony mon, and a hishi mon.
  • An antique Japanese sutra box with three volumes of sacred scriptures. The black lacquered sutra box is covered with a gold maki-e pattern symbolizing good luck, power and resilience. The box features the peony mon, and a hishi mon.
  • An antique Japanese sutra box with three volumes of sacred scriptures. The black lacquered sutra box is covered with a gold maki-e pattern symbolizing good luck, power and resilience. The box features the peony mon, and a hishi mon.
  • An antique Japanese sutra box with three volumes of sacred scriptures. The black lacquered sutra box is covered with a gold maki-e pattern symbolizing good luck, power and resilience. The box features the peony mon, and a hishi mon.
  • An antique Japanese sutra box with three volumes of sacred scriptures. The black lacquered sutra box is covered with a gold maki-e pattern symbolizing good luck, power and resilience. The box features the peony mon, and a hishi mon.
  • An antique Japanese sutra box with three volumes of sacred scriptures. The black lacquered sutra box is covered with a gold maki-e pattern symbolizing good luck, power and resilience. The box features the peony mon, and a hishi mon.
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JapanDownUnder

japanese antique sutra box with scripture books, black lacquer and gold makie buddhist sutra box

japanese antique sutra box with scripture books, black lacquer and gold makie buddhist sutra box

¥47,852 JPY
¥47,852 JPY
Sale Sold out
Shipping calculated at checkout.

Love Japanese Style Like We Do

A very nice antique Japanese sutra box with three volumes of sacred scriptures containing the teachings of the Buddha.

The black lacquered sutra box is covered completely with a gold maki-e Seigaiha wave pattern, symbolizing good luck, power and resilience. In the center of the lid is a beautiful raised gold botan, or peony mon. The front side of the small box features a repeat of the peony mon, together with a hishi mon.

The deep sided and fitted lid opens to reveal an interior space perfectly sized for holding the sutra books. The interior is fully covered in gold leaf. The lower body is attached to a slightly raised stand and the sides are cut out and shaped to easily remove the sutra books from the box.

The three beautifully, hand written sutra volumes are bound in a lovely gold and purple brocade and have a red and gold brocade spine.

The sutra box and scriptures are in good condition. There are signs of use with some wear and fading of the gold lacquer work.

A nice piece of Buddhist art.

- sutra box measures around 13 cm (5.1”) across x 18 cm (7.1”) deep x 10 cm (3.9”) tall.
- weighs 800 gm.

(listing for sutra box and three sutra books)

SHIPPING INFORMATION
- please read our shipping policy. 
- we use recycle packaging wherever possible and wrap for safety, rather than appearance!

ABOUT OUR VINTAGE AND ANTIQUE ITEMS
We list pieces we feel are worthy of display. There may be scratches, dents, fading and signs of wear and tear. We try to explain the condition of each item exactly, but may miss something.

Information regarding the item and it’s age is obtained from dealers and our personal research. We do our best to give you the correct information but please be aware that we cannot guarantee this information.

Please message us prior to purchase with any questions you may have about our products.

PEONY
Peony (botan) was imported to Japan by Buddhist monks around the 8th century.  At that time the peony tree was not regarded as a beautiful garden plant but rather as a medicinal plant.  Over the next few hundred years, peonies were appreciated more as ornamental plants and were planted in court gardens and temples.  Around the Edo period (1603 to 1868), the cultivation of peony trees became widespread.  By the 1890's several large nurseries began to appear in Japan and they started to export large amounts of peony to the United States and Europe.

The flower of the peony tree is known as the "King of Flowers".  In Japan, it is a symbol of good luck, honor, bravery and ageless beauty.  Sometimes peony flowers are used to decorate wedding halls to promote good luck and good fortune for newlyweds  It is a popular flower in tattoos and has a happy-go-lucky, casual devil-may-care meaning.  

Peony flowers were used as a common motif in a range of traditional Japanese art forms.  They were used in Japanese Ukiyo-e (woodblock prints) and in silk screening on materials such as silk and paper.

HISHI
Hishi is a diamond shape pattern composed of four slanted lines. When the diamond shape is laid out in a sequence, the pattern can be called naname-goshi (slanted diamond grid) or tasuki pattern. It is said by some that hishi represents water weeds growing in ponds and swamps, while others believe it represents water chestnuts. The hishi pattern was used on earthenware from as far back as the Jōmon period (14,500 BC - 300 BC) and has been used ever since in various art forms.

The hishi pattern became very popular in the Heian period (794 - 1185) when the court nobles began using it as one of the yusoku patterns. Yusoko refers to traditional decorations used in the Heian period by the aristocracy to decorate oxcarts, furniture and costumes. Since then, the hishi pattern has become one of the most widely used geometric patterns in Japan.

There are many variations of the hishi pattern. One 'hanabishi', which is a diamond shape with a four-petaled flower inside. Another is called 'mukai-tsurubishi' which features two cranes with their wings spread out facing each other inside a diamond. And one more is 'yotsubishi'. Yotsubishi features four diamonds combined.

SEIGAIHA (WAVE PATTERN)
The Seigaiha pattern with it’s layered concentric circles creating arches represents waves. It symbolizes surges of good luck, power and resilience.

The Seigaiha was first used in China on maps to depict the sea. In Japan, it first appeared in the 6th century on the clothing of "haniwa" (Japanese funeral terracotta clay figures). Since then it has continued to be used as a symbolic motif on clothing, kimonos, on ceramic ware, lacquerware and in graphic design.

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