Shitennoji Temple: Amulet Cases

JAPAN, Osaka; Heian period

Amulet cases were used to carry images of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and heavenly beings, as well as Buddhist texts. In the middle of the Heian period, they were popular accessories among women and children when visiting temples. These six amulet cases from Shitennoji Temple were listed as National Treasures in 1952.
The six cases are designed in different shapes and sizes. They are first shaped using light cypress and then covered with decorative brocades before being inlaid with delicate ornaments of gold and silver. They also display Sanskrit seed syllables as protection from evil. They are either oval, rounded at the corners, or shaped as a five-petal flower on the sides. Flower-shaped diamond patterns, cherry tree circles and branches, and cranes with pine branches decorate the cases, which were woven delicately.