This pair of red lacquered wood covers once protected a copy of the Sutra of the Great Aeon. On each, the central triple flaming jewel, symbolizing the three jewels of Buddhism, is flanked by four of the Eight Buddhist Treasures, which include the wheel, parasol, knot, paired fish, canopy, lotus, jar, and conch shell. In 1401, Emperor Yongle ordered the printing of the Tibetan Buddhist canon (Kangyur). Unlike the scroll or accordion-fold book format of Chinese texts, Tibetan texts were organized as stacks of loose-leaf sheets that would have fit between these covers.
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Dimensions:L. 28 1/2 in. (72.4 cm); W. 10 1/2 in. (26.7 cm); H. of each cover 1 1/4 in. (3.2 cm)
Classification:Lacquer
Credit Line:Gift of Florence and Herbert Irving, 2015
Object Number:2015.500.1.52a, b
[ J. J. Lally & Co. , New York, until 1990; sold to Irving]; Florence and Herbert Irving , New York (1990–2015; donated to MMA)
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "East Asian Lacquer from the Florence and Herbert Irving Collection," November 22, 1991–February 23, 1992.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Irving Lacquers," 1998–2000.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Defining Yongle, Imperial Art in Early Fifteenth-Century China," April 1–July 10, 2005.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Chinese Lacquer," July 18–November 14, 2005.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Asian Lacquer: Masterpieces from the Florence and Herbert Irving Collection," November 3, 2007–May 11, 2008.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Cinnabar: The Chinese Art of Carved Lacquer," August 6, 2009–February 21, 2010.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Sumptuous: East Asian Lacquer, 14th–20th Century," October 25, 2014–August 9, 2015.
New York. Rubin Museum of Art. "Faith and Empire," February 1–July 15, 2019.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Another World Lies Beyond: Chinese Art and the Divine," August 24, 2019–January 5, 2020.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Recasting the Past: The Art of Chinese Bronzes, 1100–1900," February 27, 2025–September 28, 2025.
Watt, James C. Y., and Barbara Brennan Ford. East Asian Lacquer: The Florence and Herbert Irving Collection. Exh. cat. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1991, pp. 116–118, cat. no. 49.
Watt, James C. Y., and Denise Patry Leidy. Defining Yongle: Imperial Art in Early Fifteenth-Century China. Exh. cat. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005, pp. 55–57, pl. 22.
Pengliang Lu. Recasting the Past: The Art of Chinese Bronzes, 1100–1900,. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2025, pp. 152, 278, fig. 77.
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The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world.
