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Collections

Unknown
Kammavaca (Book of Rules) manuscript19th Century

On view: Resnick Pavilion
Horizontal abstract painting in brick red with two irregular patches of gold-yellow pigment, one near center and one in the upper right, over a textured, worn surface
Illuminated manuscript folio in horizontal format, with dense lines of black Tibetan script on a gold ground, flanked by two painted panels depicting seated deities with red foliate borders.
Narrow horizontal textile panel in gold and red, with six framed compartments each containing a deity or mythological figure amid scrolling foliage, bordered by dense floral and foliate patterning.
Illustrated manuscript folio with dense rows of Burmese script in black ink on a gold and red ground, flanked by decorative panels with figures and floral motifs at each end.
Illuminated manuscript page on a golden ground with dense rows of dark brown script in an Indic script, bordered by a narrow red decorative band with scrolling pattern along the long edges.
Palm leaf manuscript folio with dense rows of Burmese script in dark ink on a yellowed surface, with decorative red-painted borders along the long edges.
Horizontal palm leaf manuscript page with dense rows of Burmese script in black ink on a gold-lacquered surface, bordered by red and gold decorative edges.
Illuminated manuscript leaf in horizontal format, densely filled with rows of Devanagari or related Indic script in black ink on a warm gold-toned ground, with red decorative borders along the edges.
Rectangular manuscript leaf with dense rows of Burmese script in black ink on a gilded ground, with decorative red and gold patterned borders along the long edges.
Rectangular manuscript leaf with dense rows of Burmese script in black ink on a gilded orange-gold ground, with decorative borders along the long edges.
Horizontal palm-leaf manuscript folio with dense rows of black script in a South or Southeast Asian script on a cream ground, bordered by red decorative patterned edges.
Horizontal manuscript leaf with dense rows of Burmese script in dark ink on a gold-lacquered surface, framed by a red decorative border with scrolling pattern
Horizontal palm-leaf manuscript page with densely written lines of Burmese script in dark ink on a gold-toned ground, bordered by narrow decorative bands at top and bottom.
Horizontal palm leaf manuscript folio with dense rows of black Khmer or Pali script on a golden-tan surface, framed by narrow decorative red and gold borders along the top and bottom edges.
Palm leaf manuscript page with dense rows of Burmese or Mon script in black ink on a golden-tan ground, bordered by narrow red and gold decorative edges.
Illustrated manuscript leaf with dense lines of black Sinhalese or Pali script on a gilded ground, with decorative red and gold border along the edges.
Horizontal manuscript leaf with dense rows of Burmese script in black ink on a gold-lacquered palm leaf, with decorative red and gold patterned borders along the top and bottom edges.
Palm leaf manuscript page, horizontal format, densely covered in lines of dark ink Jain or Indic script on a golden-tan ground, with red decorative borders along the long edges.
Illuminated manuscript folio in landscape format, densely filled with rows of Burmese script in black ink on a gilded ground, with red decorative borders framing the text.
Horizontal palm leaf manuscript folio with dense rows of Burmese script in black ink on a gold-lacquered ground, with red decorative borders along the edges.
Palm leaf manuscript page with dense rows of Sinhala or related Indic script in dark ink on a golden-tan ground, bordered by a narrow red decorative edge.
Horizontal palm leaf manuscript page with dense lines of Burmese or Mon script in dark ink on a gilt background, bordered by a narrow red and gold decorative frame.
Palm leaf manuscript folio with dense rows of black script in a Southeast Asian writing system, set against a golden-tan background with red decorative border along the edges.
Palm leaf manuscript folio, densely inscribed with rows of black script in a South or Southeast Asian script on a golden-tan ground, with red decorative borders along the long edges.
Horizontal palm-leaf manuscript folio with dense rows of black Devanagari or related Indic script on a gold-toned ground, framed by a narrow red decorative border.
Horizontal palm leaf manuscript page with dense rows of black script in an Indic alphabet on a warm ochre ground, flanked by two painted panels depicting multi-armed deities in red and gold with decorative border patterns.
Rectangular manuscript leaf with dense rows of black script on a warm golden-yellow ground, with red ruled lines separating lines of text in an Indic script.
Horizontal palm leaf manuscript page with dense rows of black script in a South or Southeast Asian writing system on a golden-tan ground, bordered by a red decorative edge.
Horizontal palm leaf or paper manuscript page with dense rows of Khmer or Southeast Asian script in black ink on a gold-toned ground, with red decorative borders along the edges.
Rectangular palm-leaf manuscript page with dense rows of Burmese script in black ink on a gold-lacquered ground, bordered by red decorative edges.
Rectangular manuscript folio with dense rows of Tibetan script in black ink on a gold-painted ground, bordered by a red decorative band with intricate scrollwork.
Illuminated manuscript leaf with dense lines of black Burmese script on a gold-toned ground, flanked by two painted rectangular vignettes depicting seated figures with red and gold decorative borders.
Horizontal manuscript cover or decorative panel in aged yellow-gold with red pigment, featuring a row of six framed rectangular compartments, each containing a deity or celestial figure amid scrolling foliage, bordered by intricate foliate vine patterns along the edges
Rectangular wooden panel painted with uniform red-orange pigment, showing surface wear and minor chipping at the lower left corner.
Rectangular manuscript cover in gold and red, with repeating carved or painted panels featuring floral rosettes in circular medallions, flanked by confronted bird figures and scrolling foliate borders.

Unknown, Kammavaca (Book of Rules) manuscript, 19th Century (alternate view), Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Gift of Mary Ann Porter, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA

Artist or Maker
Unknown
Title
Kammavaca (Book of Rules) manuscript
Place Made
Myanmar (Burma)
Date Made
19th Century
Medium
Wood (teak?), cloth, lacquer, gold leaf
Dimensions
1 1/2 × 23 × 5 in. (3.81 × 58.42 × 12.7 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Mary Ann Porter
Accession Number
M.2017.121.1
Classification
Manuscripts
Collecting Area
South and Southeast Asian Art
Curatorial Notes

Kammavaca (Book of Rules) is the Pali term for a ritual text consisting of a set of passages extrapolated from the Theravada Buddhist canon, the Tripitaka (Triple Basket), that relate to ordination, bestowing of robes, election of senior monks, designating sacred ground and days for fasting and meditation, dedication of monasteries, release from monastic vows, and other rules of Buddhist monastic life. These highly ornate manuscripts are generally commissioned by lay members of society as a work of merit, to be presented to monasteries when a son enters the Buddhist order as a novice or is ordained as a monk. Although these regulations were strictly observed in other Theravada Buddhist countries, only in Burma were the manuscripts of the Kammavaca given such preeminence and so lavishly adorned.

See Pratapaditya Pal and Julia Meech-Pekarik, Buddhist Book Illuminations (Hong Kong: Ravi Kumar Publishers and Hurstpierpoint, England: Richard Lyon – Chimera Books, 1988), pp. 207-208; and Sylvia Fraser-Lu and Donald M. Stadtner, Buddhist Art of Myanmar (New York: Asia Society Museum in association with New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2015), pp. 198-199, no. 57.

Selected Bibliography
  • Little, Stephen, Tushara Bindu Gude, Karina Romero Blanco, Silvia Seligson, Marco Antonio Karam. Las Huellas de Buda. Ciudad de México : Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, 2018.
  • Little, Stephen, and Tushara Bindu Gude. Realms of the Dharma: Buddhist Art across Asia. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2025.