This qiangjin sutra cover is datable to circa 1410 CE. Originally in quite good condition, it had the misfortune to be removed from a monastic library and be converted into a utilitarian object. In that conversion large areas at each end of the decorated face surface were chiseled off, presumably to reshape the cover for secondary use in some type of carpentry or furniture construction. While the original integrity of the object was irreparably lost by that process, such damage had the unintended effect of allowing study of the construction of such lacquer objects, in ways that would be impossible if the surface was still covered in its original layer of polished and decorated cinnabar lacquer. In its damaged condition it is possible to study and sample materials in ways that would not be normally be appropriate to use on an artistically and historically significant object.
