Talisman

9814 — Of various heights & lengths ranging from 48 to 80 mm. in height & 4000 to 10500 mm. in length all in very good condition some with silk front endpapers four with orig. core rollers. Japan: mid- to late Edo.<br /> <br> <br> <br /> Ten very rare examples of kokonoe no mamori good luck talismans printed in the form of extremely long and narrow scrolls; because of their ephemeral nature they are rare today. These talisman scrolls were not really meant to be unrolled and studied; instead they were intended to be tightly rolled and kept in a small pouch close to the chest for good luck.<br /> <br> <br> “Such narrow but extremely long handscrolls veritable encyclopedias of Buddhist iconography received the name kokonoe no mamori amulet in nine layers during the Edo period because they begin with a red seal but not always there are many without; we have two with the red seal in the shape of a cauldron containing characters that can be read kokonoe no mamori. All the scrolls start with an image but not always there are many without of Ususama Myoo S: Ucchushma the king who has the power to burn away impurity and evil which is followed by powerful magical syllables J: shingon S: mantra various ‘seed’ mandalas in Sanskrit and sutras in Chinese. Next Buddhist deities including Esoteric icons are depicted along the length of the handscroll; buddhas bodhisattvas the four guardian kings the five great kings of light Yakushi Buddha with sixteen protectors and a thousand-armed Kannon S: Sahasrabhuja with twenty-eight attendants. Many cosmological deities are included: the nine luminaries and Taizanfusei related to the Big Dipper. Such popularized Esoteric icons as Shoten S: Nandikeshvara Dakiniten S: Dakini Idaten S: Skanda Gozu Tenno and Tawara Daikokuten S: Mahakala are also shown. The last section of the scroll contains a series of dharani sutras in Sanskrit magical formulas of knowledge that are composed of syllables with symbolic content…<br /> <br> <br> “Two types of kokonoe no mamori became popular in the Edo period as talismans for journeys and pilgrimages and as a part of the wedding trousseau. One type has at the end of the scroll a portrait of Kukai the founder of Shingon Esoteric Buddhism while the other portrays Saicho the founder of Tendai Esoteric Buddhism.â€â€“Masako Watanabe The Written Image. Japanese Calligraphy and Painting from the Sylvan Barnet and William Burto Collection item 22 pp. 86-88.<br /> <br> <br> As noted these scrolls are in very good to excellent condition. A few have some wear at the beginning. Two of the scrolls are in their original wooden boxes and all of the scrolls are preserved in a modern wooden box. unknown