A parcel-gilt silver repoussé sacred sutra box
Tibet, 18th/19th century
The rectangular box is fashioned with a deep and stepped hinged lid, inset with the five gilt tathagata with swirling floral forms and a gilt beaded median border on the top panel. The face panel is centered by a four-armed kinnara holding snakes tales and a vase at his chest. Supported on the sides by nagini figures and flanked by two pairs of battling dragons and two small kinnara figures occupy the lower corners. The sides are decorated with a snow lion in the upper section and elephants and deer below.
16 x 6 x 6 in. (40.6 x 15.2 x 15.2 cm.)
The rectangular box is fashioned with a deep and stepped hinged lid, inset with the five gilt tathagata with swirling floral forms and a gilt beaded median border on the top panel. The face panel is centered by a four-armed kinnara holding snakes tales and a vase at his chest. Supported on the sides by nagini figures and flanked by two pairs of battling dragons and two small kinnara figures occupy the lower corners. The sides are decorated with a snow lion in the upper section and elephants and deer below.
16 x 6 x 6 in. (40.6 x 15.2 x 15.2 cm.)
Sold for
US$ 31,250
inc. premium
Footnotes
- Compare with a related ritual box in the Walters Museum of Art, (see Pal, Desire and Devotion: Art from India, Nepal and Tibet from the John and Berte Ford Collection, London, 2001, no. 192, p. 320.)
Provenance:
Acquired from Mohan Sakya, Kathmandu 2004
Category: Asian Art / Southeast Asian, Indian and Himalayan Art
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Southeast Asian, Indian and Himalayan Art
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Southeast Asian, Indian and Himalayan Art