Dough molds were used in Tibetan popular rituals to make dough effigies called zan par ("dough print"). The ritual is a form of protection, exorcism, or ransom.

The molds would be carried from a monastery by a trained monk to the home of anyone who wished cure sickness or to deal with various misfortunes. The practitioner could chose from the dozens of small inscriptions on the board to identify the type of obstacle to be dealt with, be it human, animal, bird, supernatural, or symbolic. This accounts for the great number of carved images found on a single board. He then places a ball of dough (tsampa flour and water) onto the appropriate incised images, presses it to form an images of the objects and then places them on an offering plate located on a specially constructed altar. Chants by the practitioner expedite the transfer whatever impediments he discovered into the dough effigies.

This dough mold is 13-1/4 inches long. It is carved on all four sides and measures 2-3/4 by 1-1/2 inches around. As can be seen in the photographs it has darkened with age and has a very pleasant patina. The carving is extremely confident and carefully done. It is very difficult to estimate the age of a timeless artifact such as this but we would confidently estimate it to be well over a century old.