Panchcaraksha sutra

Object Details

• Patron

  Sakyabhiksu Sri Jaya Dharma

• Calligrapher

  Sri Kusale Deva

• Provenance

  1647-?

  Sakyabhiksu Sri Jaya Dharma and unidentified individuals at the Paravata-mahavihara (monastery)

  , commissioned from the scribes Sri Kusale Deva and his brother at the Taramula-vihara (monastery), Kathmandu, Nepal [1]

  1798

  Unidentified family, Netal-tol, Kathmandu, Nepal, purchased from an unidentified owner [2]

  ?-?

  Ownership information unknown

  ?-1966

  Unidentified owner, Kathmandu, Nepal, method of acquisition unknown [3]

  1966-1991

  H. Robert Slusser (1916-1999) and Mary Slusser (née Shepherd) (1918-2017), purchased from unidentified owner in Kathmandu, Nepal [4]

  From 1991

  Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, gift of H. Robert Slusser and Mary Slusser (née Shepherd) [5]

  Notes:

  [1] See notes by Mary Slusser titled, “Proposed Gift of Nepalese Manuscript, Mr. and Mrs. H. Robert Slusser in memory of Gladys May Hamilton,” dated October 7, 1991 (edited November 25, 1991), copy in object file. Slusser’s note states, “The first colophon of 1647 states that the manuscript was commissioned by Sakyabhiksu Sri Jaya Dharma and many others at Paravata-mahavihara but the scribes themselves, Sri Kusale Deva, a vajracarya (Buddhist officiant) of the Mahapatra kula, and his brother, also named, lived in Taramula-vihara. Both viharas, no longer monasteries but combination Buddhist shrines and lay residences, still physically exist in Kathmandu, the one [Paravata-mahavihara] a very ancient foundation known familiarly as Itum-bahal, the other the central palace square (Darbar Square). […] [/] According to the 1798 colophon a family living in Neta-tol, Kathmandu, bought the manuscript so that it could be read (worshipped?) in their own home.”

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] See letter from Mary Slusser to Dr. Carol Bolon, dated October 7, 1991, copy in object file. Mary Slusser’s letter states, “The illuminated 17th century Nepalese manuscript that accompanies this note was purchased in Katmandu, Nepal in 1966 and has been in the United States since 1970.”

  [4] See note 3. See also “Custody Receipt,” dated October 9, 1991, copy in object file. The object was transferred from Mary Slusser to the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery for acquisition consideration on October 9, 1991.

  Mary Shepherd Slusser, an anthropologist and archaeologist, and her husband H. Robert Slusser, an economist with USAID, lived in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam during 1954-1957 and visited Cambodia many times during that interlude. The Slussers subsequently lived in Nepal during 1965-1972, where Mrs. Slusser became a founding board member of Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust. Her publications, including Nepal Mandala (1981, 1998), document the valley's art and architecture. Mr. Slusser retired in 1980, and the Slussers permanently settled in Washington, DC, where Mary became a research associate at the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art. See David P. Rehfuss, "Ceramic Sherds from Southeast Asia—The Freer Study Collection and its Donors," Ceramics in Mainland Southeast Asia: Collections in the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, 2008, http://SEAsianCeramics.asia.si.edu.

  [5] See Arthur M. Sackler, “Acquisition Consideration Form,” approved in November 1991, copy in object file. See also “Deed of Gift to the Arthur M. Sacker Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution,” dated December 31, 1991, copy in object file.

  Research updated July 19, 2023

• Collection

  National Museum of Asian Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Dharma and Punya: Buddhist Ritual Art of Nepal (September 2 to December 31, 2019)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Dr. Mary Shepherd Slusser (1918-2017)

  H. Robert Slusser (1916-1999)

• Origin

  Kathmandu, Taramula-vihara (monastery), Nepal

• Credit Line

  Gift of Mr. and Mrs. H. Robert Slusser in memory of Gladys May Hamilton

• Type

  Manuscript

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

  The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1640s

• Name

  Slusser, H. Robert, Slusser, Mary Shepherd

• Place

  Kathmandu, Taramula-vihara monastery, Nepal

• Topic

  Vairocana Buddha, South Asian and Himalayan Art, Amoghyasiddhi Buddha, Art, Ratnasambhava Buddha, Amitabha Buddha, Akshobhya Buddha, Pancaraksa Sutra

• Culture

  Buddhists, Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Object Type

  Manuscripts