
Dora Tan
Head of Sale, Specialist
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Sold for HK$57,375 inc. premium
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Head of Sale, Specialist

International Director

International Specialist

Cataloguer
西藏 十七/十八世紀 銅鎏金大紅司命主蝎形寶劍柄
The handle fashioned in the shape of a flattened scorpion represents the destructive and deadly weapon of the protective deity Begtse Chen. It is most likely that such a ritual armament would have been held by a monk invoking the deity through costume in a ritual Cham dance, as shown in a black and white photo of a performance in the 1930s, (Tsultem, Mongolian Sculpture, Ulan Batar, 1988).
Compare with a complete sword in the Triay Collection, (Nathalie Bazin et al., Rituels tibétains: Visions secrètes du Vème Dalaï Lama (1617 – 1682), 2002, p. 146, no. 106).
Provenance:
Private California Collection, acquired in the 1980s