A Silver Ritual Vessel with Chitipati

TIBET 18TH CENTURY

Details

A Silver Ritual Vessel with Chitipati
Tibet 18th Century
The vase richly decorated with everted foot bordered by a beaded rim and in the shape of an open lotus; the body of the vase rendered as a sea of flames with the upper portion decorated with garlands, also decorated on the cardinal directions with dancing skeletons alternating with flaming skull cups bearing offerings and interspersed with carrion birds, ritual objects, a measuring unit, a coral branch, a pair of elephant tusks, a three-eyed jewel, a unicorn horn, a pair of king's earrings and a pair of queen's earrings, surmounted by a garland of grinning skulls and four serpents; the neck with kirttimukha masks interspersed with beaded swags, with further tiers including a billowing ocean with aquatic creatures and a man rowing a boat filled with jewels, the top of the neck constructed with two reversed and one open lotus joined with a plain band
14 in. (35.7 cm.) high

Literature

Exhibition catalogue, Body, Speech and Mind, London, Spink & Son, Ltd., 1998, p. 76 cat. no. 40.
Exhibition catalogue, Monasterios y lamas del Tibet, Madrid, Fundación "La Caixa", 2000, p. 109, cat. no. 34.

Exhibited

London, Spink & Son, Ltd., Body, Speech, and Mind, cat. no. 40, December 1998.
Madrid, Fundación "La Caixa", Monasterios y lamas del Tibet, cat. no. 34, November 2000-January 2001.

Lot Essay

This vase is one of the finest works of Tibetan decorative art executed in silver. It symbolizes a mandala or cosmic palace in extraordinary detail. Generally Tibetan ritual vessels are simple in design. They would have been used during certain rituals for sprinkling consecrated water or in some cases the vessel would have been filled with water and selected grains, allowing the priest to envisage a floating mandala replete with deities.

More from INDIAN AND SOUTHEAST ASIAN ART INCLUDING INDIAN PAINTINGS

View All