Manuscript of excerpts from Buddhist texts

Both covers of this manuscript bear eight animals within square or octagonal frames. The eight animals in a set would be expected to be those associated with the planets and the days of the week in Burma (where Wednesday is divided into two parts). The animals here, however-an elephant, a bull, a horse, a buffalo, a peacock, two other birds, and a creature that is perhaps a pig or a boar-do not correspond to the standard list.

It is likely that the two covers come from different manuscripts. The crisscross patterns on the covers differ, and it seems doubtful that the drawings of the animals came from the same hand. The loose pages that the covers enclosed when they came to the museum were of two different styles and sizes, and clearly did not match.