Sinhalese palm (ola) leaf book, ca. early 20th century CE. South Asia, Southern India, Sri Lanka.
The book contains 60 leaves bound by two cords between a pair of wood slat covers. the blank end piece leaves suggest that the book contents are intact. The drawstring allows the reader to bind the palm leaves together when in storage to keep their flattened shape.
These manuscripts are religious texts made for use in Hindu-Buddhist monasteries. The writing was made by impressing a nub tip into the page, a black ink made from charcoal and resin was then rubbed into the impressions, leaving a stained darkness to edge of the pages, which further protected them from insect depredation. It has been noted elsewhere that the scripts from southeast Asia such as Sinhalese, Tamil, Burmese, etc. were adapted into curving and rounded forms because angular writing would tear up the horizontal leaf fibres.
Measurements: Length 56 cm (22″) x height 7.5 cm (3″) x width 4.5 cm (1.75″)
Provenance: private collection belonging to Australian collector Bernard Heaphy, acquired in the 1970s out of Burma, and purchased from a monastery via a broker in Bangkok.
Condition: missing original cotton cord (replaced by rope string). Some tears and fraying to palm leaves. Chips and losses to peripheries of wood covers. Discoloration and staining, with some fading to text.
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