Sutra Cover
Unknown Artist
16th century
Medium
Silk, metallic thread
Dimensions
Overall: 13 3/4 x 4 3/4 in. (34.9 x 12.1cm)
Classification
Textiles-Woven
Culture
China
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1946
Accession Number
46.186.58
Art Historical Context
This exquisite *Sutra Cover* from16th-century China, crafted by an unknown artist, exemplifies the pinnacle of Ming Dynasty textile artistry. Woven from luxurious silk and shimmering metallic threads, it measures a compact 13¾ x 4¾ inches, designed to encase sacred Buddhist sutras—scrolls containing profound teachings on enlightenment and compassion. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Asian Art Department (acquired via the Rogers Fund in 194), this piece reflects the era's reverence for Buddhism, where such covers protected holy texts during rituals, study, or transport in monasteries ...