Burmese Kamawa-sa Buddhist texts to headline at PBA Galleries

A set of Burmese Kamawa-sa Buddhist texts are to lead a sale of archaeological and antique reference books at PBA Galleries in San Francisco on July 3 with a $10,000-15,000 estimate.

Kamawa-sa are Buddhist texts printed on materials ranging from lacquered wood to copper and bone that are presented to monks as a form of religious offering.

Kamawa-sa panels
Kamawa-sa texts are presented to monks in Burma as a religious offering

The examples offered were made in the 19th century from lacquered wood covered in gold leaf and consist of six lines of text with a string to bind them together. The cover is embellished with precious stones and cut glass.

Another set will feature in the sale with an identical estimate.

A rare copy of Ernest de Sarzec and Leo Alexander Hurzey's Decouverts en Chaldee (Discoveries in Chaldea) is valued at $4,000-7,000.

The lot relates the findings of the French archaeologists in the ancient region of Chaldea, which was locate by the Euphrates in modern day Iraq.

The Chaldeans came to rule Babylon for a short period during the 6th century BC, before being ousted by the Persians in 560 BC.

The book was published between 1884 and 1912 and is one of very few surviving copies.

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