bookcover with three medallions

carved and painted wood
Tibet, 10th-early 11th cent.
66 x 19 x 1,4 cm.

This is a very important and early cover! The half-circles along the border are typical for very early covers.
As far as I know, only two earlier (9th cent.), covers, with similar decoration, are known (coll. Carlo Christi, Italy, and Newark Museum, NJ, USA). See: Amy Heller, Tibetan Art – tracing the Development of Spiritual Ideas and Art in Tibet, Milano 1999, p. 36 and 54.

Tested C-14 CIRAM.