Tibetan Book Cover: Carved and Painted

Antiques: Regional Art: Asian: Indian Subcontinent: Himalayas Pre 1700: item #488078
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The carved design of this old Tibetan book cover remains very crisp even though only a few flecks of gold remain to hint at its former elegance. A sacred vase with a knotted scarf is the central focus. A beaded edge completes the central frame, and around it is a painted surface of gold over red also dominated by scrolls. The left edge of the book cover is also carved with scrolls. The reverse side is plain, but unscarred by the knife marks which helped disguise many book covers during the C... Click for details

Tibetan Silver Clad Conch Shell Trumpet

Antiques: Regional Art: Asian: Indian Subcontinent: Himalayas Pre 1920: item #487537
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The conch is one of the eight auspicious symbols of Tibetan Buddhism. It is also a powerful amplifier of sound and as such is used for the call to prayer. Buddhism adopted the symbolism of the conch from Hinduism and it represents the truth of the dharma in Buddhist practice.

We categorized this item as an antique because the shell certainly is, though we want to make clear that the silver work with inlaid turquoise a... Click for details

Tibetan Silver Teacup Stand and Lid

Antiques: Regional Art: Asian: Indian Subcontinent: Himalayas Pre 1920: item #487472
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In addition to their notorious butter tea, Tibetans are also very fond of jasmine tea, which they serve in porcelain cups. A silver stand and cover like this make for a most elegant service for a special guest.

The cup we are showing with the stand and lid is just a stand-in, and we don't own a cup of just the right proportions. We are selling only the silver stand and cover. As can be seen in the photo, this c... Click for details

Early 20th c. copper gau of gold-painted Begtse

Antiques: Regional Art: Asian: Indian Subcontinent: Himalayas Pre 1920: item #484427
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This is a copper gau (amulet or shrine box) of the protector Begtse circa early 20th century from Tibet or Nepal. In almost excellent condition with a small chip at the apex of the clay sculpture, the gau measures about 1.75 inches at the base, 2.25 inches at the shoulder, 3 inches high and an inch in depth. The gold-painted clay sculpture of Begtse is the central figure of the shrine. He is very clearly depicted in his traditional iconography: his limbs are thick and short, his mouth bubbles wi... Click for details

Set of Thirteen Fine Quality Large Tibetan Tsakli

Antiques: Regional Art: Asian: Indian Subcontinent: Himalayas Pre 1800: item #483981
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Tsaklis occupy a small and rather neglected niche in the world of Tibetan Buddhist artifacts. They are like poor cousins to the much more studies and collected Tibetan thangkas, but they are much more numerous than thangkas and offer a much wider range of subject matter.

Like thangkas tsakli come in a wide range of qualities and painting styles. Some were rather hurriedly painted by not very skilled artists... Click for details

Tibetan Tsakli: Wrathful Protector Hayagriva

Antiques: Regional Art: Asian: Indian Subcontinent: Himalayas Pre 1700: item #483974
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Identifiable as Hayagriva by the horse head protruding from his hair, he is portrayed here as single headed and with two arms, three eyes and a pair of Garuda wings. As with most portraits of Tibetan wrathful deities, he stands in front of raging flames.

Hayagriva is considered to be the wrathful form of Avalokitesvara and has many forms. We are showing a Bhutanese thangka portrait of Hayagrive (see Tro... Click for details

Tibetan Tsakli: 4-Armed Avalokitesvara

Antiques: Regional Art: Asian: Indian Subcontinent: Himalayas Pre 1900: item #483562
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Four-armed Avalokitesvara is known to the Tibetans as Chenrezi. He is the Bodhisattva of compassion and the Dalai Lama is considered to be his embodiment.

This card measures 4 x 5 inches. It is not inscribed on the reverse. While the edges of the card are chipped and battered, the painting itself is in good condition. ... Click for details

18th C. Bhutanese Thangka: Wrathful Deity Hayagriva

Antiques: Regional Art: Asian: Indian Subcontinent: Himalayas Pre 1800: item #483553
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Identifiable as Hayagriva by the horse head protruding from his hair, he is portrayed in his three-headed and six-armed form with his consort Krodhishvari, the "Wrathful Goddess".

Hayagriva is considered to be the wrathful form of Avalokitesvara and has many forms. Here his body is red while Krodhishvari's is blue. Among their implements both hold skull cups. Both are standing on writhing bodies. Hayag... Click for details

Early Thangka from Bhutan: Wrathful Deity Yamantaka

Antiques: Regional Art: Asian: Indian Subcontinent: Himalayas Pre 1700: item #482542
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The buffalo headed deity, Yamantaka, is the wrathful form of Manjushree, the Tibetan god of Wisdom. Manjushree took this form to conquer the lord of death and as such Yamantaka is one of the most wrathful of the Tibetan Buddhist deities.

Here he is shown in yab-yam, the union of male and female which represents the union of compassion and wisdom.... Click for details

Tibetan Carpet: Seating Mat

Antiques: Regional Art: Asian: Indian Subcontinent: Himalayas Pre 1920: item #478569
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A small carpet such as this was woven to be used for seating, especially for seating for worship in a monastery. This seating carpet is heavily decorated with flowers, ribbons, and precious offerings against an indego ground. It has been edged and backed with cloth.

This carpet measures 32" by 22". The heaviest wear is in the top center as shown. The last in the series of photographs shows the greatest extent of ... Click for details