Galerie Koller Zürich, Auktion 87/3, 25/26 Juni 1993, tafel 1, nr. 38. 

This rare and unusual book cover depicts deities in shrines reminiscent of early Tibetan temple architecture. The reclining lions with paws extended forward, depicted in the centre of the niches to the upper far right, lower far right and lower far left of the book cover, are in the same format as lion-headed beam ends in early Tibetan temples, such as eight or ninth century examples in the Jokhang, see Michael Henss, The Cultural Monuments of Tibet, Munich, London, New York, 2014, p. 48, pls. 38-40. Compare also the architecture of the niches in an eleventh or twelfth century Tibetan Prajnaparamita book cover in the Maclean Collection, see Kathryn H. Selig Brown, Protecting Wisdom: Tibetan Book Covers from the MacLean Collection, Munich, London, New York, 2012, p. 69, cat. 10.