This is an unusual Naga necklace with five cut-out full male figures flanked by a fish pendant on either side. Take a close look at the faces and you will see that each of the brass pieces is unique. The cutting out of the voids is an unusual extra step which had to have been done individually by hand and indicates the care to which the craftsman went. The necklace is strung with traditional orange cylindrical Naga glass beads. ...click for details
In traditional Naga society the wearer of this necklace had to have taken three heads. Since the Naga gave up headhunting by the middle of the 20th century, we are dating this necklace as pre-1950 though it is probably considerably older.
A 21 inch string of black, yellow and green beads attaches to loops on either ends of the brass heads. The three heads together measure 5-3/4 inches in length. Not including the t ...click for details
This is a necklace without an opening about twenty inches long. It consists of a string of white heart beads and nine old brass pieces. One of the pieces represents a human face and the others represent leaves, melons, or abstract shapes. The brass ornaments all show good age, with nice wear on the backs and also where they hang from a string. They are considerably older than the date we estimate for the necklace and bear no relationship to the new brass items now coming out of Nagaland. They va ...click for details
This kind of wooden phurba is found mostly in the foot hills and higher mountains of Nepal's
Himalayas. We have never seen one which could be convincingly assigned a Tibetan origin
although often they are mislabeled as Tibetan.
Of all the hundreds of phurbas we have handled this one stands out as
one of the most outstanding. It has a wonderful patina, the carving is
expressive, and the cloth dangles lend it ...click for details
Serving the simple function of holding the churn handle upright while butter was being made, these carved household objects from Nepal have evolved into a unique design and aesthetic with religious overtones. In fact a 461 page book has been published on the subject.
Although all the ghurras have been sold, our Trocadero item number 327665 includes a photograph of a ghurra as used in butter-making and a cover photo ...click for details
This kind of small rectangular pile carpet could have been used in a monastery or a domestic meditation room, or it could even have been used as the seat part of a saddle set. A very similar one is shown as pl. 239 in Tibetan Rugs, White Orchid Books.
The carpet is in good condition, natural dyes, and no reweaving. It measures 26-1/2 by 24 inches (67 x 61 cm.)
This is an old piece as can be seen from the patina and
the wear on the back. The red glass beads are no doubt
a more recent addition, but the value of the piece is in
the double brass heads which have an entirely different feel from the new brass work now found on the market.
The brass measures 4-1/2 inches across and 3 inches high. The beads are 21 inches.
Tibetan gau boxes come in a variety of sizes and shapes, but
this is one of the most common form of the larger gaus. It was
made to be either placed on an altar or worn on the person. The two
lugs on either side allow for a strap so it can be easily
tied around the waist or hung over the shoulder.
A gau of this size can hold a wide variety of objects, all
of a sacred or protective nature. This could in ...click for details
The Tibetans never used movable type. They went directly
from hand-carved wood block pages to computer fonts. This
is a an example of how all their books were printed in
the pre-computer age. The letters
are a mirror image of how they will appear
on the page.
There was an elaborate process of producing these print blocks.
The wood had to be carefully selected and then put through a
long process of aging b ...click for details
