lacquered cover

lacquered and engraved (qiangjin-technique) campher-wood
China, Beijing, Yongle-period (1403-1424)
size: 73 x 26,5 cm.

An unusual Yongle-cover, with as only decoration a triratna on the frontside; no texts on the backside and no engraved decorations on the sides. This must have been a lower-cover, which is also indicated by the slight wear on the outside of the cover.
Unlike the Tibetan covers, that were always made of one piece of wood, these Chinese covers were  constructed with five pieces  of wood.