Lotus Sutra, chapter 24‐25

Object Details

• Label

  This sutra, engraved on a flat copper plaque, comes from a set of thirty-seven gilt‐copper plates with text from the Lotus Sutra inscribed on both sides that were recovered from a burial in Ōita Prefecture in northern Kyushu where they were placed soon after their production in 1141. These were buried to preserve them through the period of mappō (the Latter Day of the Law), a chaotic age that Japanese Buddhists believed had begun in the 1052 and would continue until the appearance of the next Buddha, Miroku (Maitreya). Sutra scrolls encased in bronze or ceramic jars were also buried in stone‐lined pits with small sculptures and other sacred objects.

• Provenance

  1141-?

  Created at the Tendai temple Chōanji, Bungo-Takada City, Ōita prefecture, Japan [1]

  Likely 1615-1868

  Reportedly unearthed from a sutra mound in Bungo-Takada, Karegawa, Ōita Prefecture, Japan [2]

  1926-1927

  Sutra plates and their container appeared in academic circles in Tokyo [3]

  By 2001-2002

  London Gallery, Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, method of acquisition unknown [4]

  Likely 2002-2013

  Sylvan Barnet (1926-2016) and William Burto (1921-2013) (owned jointly), purchased from London Gallery, Ltd., Tokyo, Japan [5]

  2013-2014

  Sylvan Barnet and National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, bequeathed by William Burto to the Smithsonian [6]

  From 2014

  National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, gift of Sylvan Barnet and William Burto [7]

  Notes:

  [1] This sutra text plate is one of 37 which were originally contained in a bronze sutra box and are now diversely held in international public and private collections. Produced in 1141 by a Buddhist monks and shrine priests at Tendai Temple, Chōanji, the sutra plates and box were likely buried soon after completion and left interred for centuries. The plates and box “first became known in 1926 when it was brought to the attention of Washio Junkei of the Imperial University (now Tokyo University). Nineteen of the thirty-seven plates and the remains of the box in which they were stored are still preserved at Chōanji and were registered as Important Cultural Properties in 1927.” See Melanie Trede ed. “Arts of Japan: The John C. Weber Collection” [catalog] (Berlin: Medialis Offsetdruck GmbH, 2006), pp. 44-45. This would indicate that the sutra plates and box were likely unearthed in the 19th century, and while together until 1926, only 19 of the plates and the sutra box remained united by 1927, when they were declared Important Cultural Property.

  Washio Junkei (1868-1941) was an academic scholar who taught at Imperial University (now Tokyo University) in Tokyo, Japan. He may have been sympathetic to the New Buddhist Fellowship, a socially active secular experiment which was critical of institutional Buddhism during the late Meiji era. In 1894 he co-founded the journal “Bukkyō Shirin (Forest of Buddhist History)” with Murakami Senshō (1851-1929) and Sakaino Kōyō (1871-1933), which was the first periodical dedicated to the historical study of Buddhism. He was co-editor of several multi-volume works on the history of Buddhism.

  [2] While there is limited information on the exhumation of the box and its contents, scholars believe it was unearthed sometime in the Edo period, likely in the 19th century. See Sherry Fowler, “Containers of Sacred Text and Image at Twelfth-Century Chōanji in Kyushu,” “Artibus Asiae,” vol. 74, no. 1 (2014): pp. 43, 46 and 64, fig. 10. The object is described as “One of the 37 text plates originally contained in the Chōanji sutra box.” See also Agency for Cultural Affairs Mainichi Shimbun, “Jūyō bunkazai – Kanshū Monbushō Bunkachō; henshū Mainichi Shimbun Sha ‘Jūyō Bunkazai’ Iinkai Jimukyoku” [catalog] (Tokyo: Mainichi Shinbun Sha, 1976), vol. 29, p. 81, fig. 70: “One of the sutra text plates in the collection of the Ōita Chōanji temple, identified as [translation] “Copper plate, lotus sutra – Excavated from Kanegawa Chōanji Temple, Bungotakada City, Oita prefecture.” See also note 1.

  [3] See notes 1 and 2.

  [4] See object file for letter from London Gallery, Ltd., dated “as of December 2001”: [translation] “ The copper plate sutra kept at Mt. Kongo’s Chōanji Temple in Kunisaki Rokugo Manzan is thought to have originally consisted of 37 plates, based on the lettering of the sutra text…and this is the 33rd page of the Lotus Sutra copper plate at Chōan Temple, with the end of the 7th volume and the beginning of the 8th volume inscribed.” At the conclusion of this letter, London Gallery, Ltd. identifies it as one of 11 sutra plates held individually. See also email February 5, 2002 from Ikuko Casio of the London Gallery, Ltd., to Barnet and Burto, copy in object file. The gallery noted that the object was, “Lotus sutra on copperplate from Chōanji Temple, Bungotakada City, Ōita prefecture.” The email discusses the transmission of digital image files of the sutra for Barnet and Burto to review and indicates that Barnet and Burto are interested in acquiring the object.

  Tajima Mitsuru (born ca. 1936) is a Japanese collector and art dealer who developed the London Gallery in Tokyo, Japan. Opened in the late 20th century, the gallery specializes in art and archaeological material of Asia. In 1963, at the age of twenty-seven, Tajima traveled to the United States and joined the collector and dealer Harry Packard on a cross-country trip, visiting museums and collectors, including Avery Brundage.

  [5] See note 1 through 4. See also object file F2014.6.1-19 “Japan, Heian period, Group of Calligraphies, Gift of Sylvan Barnet and William Burto. Documents: 2004-2013” for Gift Agreement between the [Smithsonian Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery] and Sylvan Barnet and William Burto. Signed by the Director on August 9, 2004, and counter-signed by Barnet and Burto August 13, 2004. The object is described as “Lotus Sutra; Late Heian period, 1141; Gilt bronze; ELS 2004.1.16.” Additionally, see object file for a copy of the “Will of William Burto”, signed and dated February 14, 2011, Article I, “Executor. I appoint Sylvan Barnet, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to be Executor of this will,” and Article II, “I give my art collection as follows: (1) To the Smithsonian Institution, Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., all of my right, title and interest, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, all copyright and associated rights, in the following works of art,” including “Lotus Sutra,” described as “Late Heian period, 1141; Gilt bronze.” See also The William Burto Revocable Trust, signed and dated June 9, 2011.

  Sylvan Barnet (1926-2015) and William Burto (1921-2013) were scholars of English literature and collectors of Asian art, focusing on Korean and Japanese works. The two amassed one of the finest private collections of Zen calligraphy, which featured works from the Nara through the Edo periods. As a professor of English literature at Tufts University in the early 1960s, Barnet proposed unique editions of Shakespeare plays, complete with introductions and study aids, to New American Library. The publishing house would produce “The Signet Classic Shakespeare” from 1963 to 1972. Barnet served as general editor as well as providing introductions for several plays, and these popular editions were widely adopted by universities throughout the United States.

  Barnet and Burto purchased their first object, a Korean celadon bowl, in New York in 1963. Just a few years later, they purchased their first calligraphy from Nathan V. Hammer, a work by Jiun Onkō. Following William Burto’s death in 2013, his half of the collection was given to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Harvard Art Museums; Metropolitan Museum of Art; and the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, respectively. Before his death in 2016, Sylvan Barnet donated his half of the collection to the same institutions.

  [6] See note 5 and object file F2014.6.1-19 “Japan, Heian period, Group of Calligraphies, Gift of Sylvan Barnet and William Burto. Acquisition papers,” for Deed of Gift signed by Sylvan Barnet September 24, 2014, and counter-signed by the Director October 7, 2014. In the attached object list, it is noted that Barnet is giving the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, his “50% share of ownership of: Lotus Sutra” described as “Late Heian period, 10th-late 12th century; Japan; Bronze with gilding,” with the credit line “Gift of Sylvan Barnet and William Burto.” The object is part of the Museum’s Freer Gallery of Art Collection.

  [7] See note 6.

  Research updated May 8, 2024

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Words of Wisdom: Buddhist Calligraphy from Japan (April 1, 2023 to February 25, 2024)

  The Power of Words in an Age of Crisis (October 14, 2017 to May 6, 2018)

  Art of the Gift: Recent Acquisitions (July 24 to December 13, 2015)

  Faith and Form: Selected Calligraphy and Painting from the Japanese Religious Traditions (March 20 to July 18, 2004)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Choanji Temple

  London Gallery, Ltd.

  Sylvan Barnet (1926-2015)

  William Burto (1921-2013)

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  Gift of Sylvan Barnet and William Burto

• Type

  Sculpture

• Restrictions and Rights

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1100s

• Name

  Choanji Temple, Barnet, Sylvan, London Gallery, Ltd., Burto, William

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Gilding, Bronze, Art, Sculpture, Late Heian (Fujiwara) period (897 - 1185), Japanese Art, Lotus Sutra, Metal-work

• Culture

  Buddhists, Japanese

• Object Type

  Sculpture