拍品 92
92
A gold and silver damascened iron scepter, khatvanga
A gold and silver damascened iron scepter, khatvanga

SINO-TIBETAN, 15TH CENTURY

細節
A gold and silver damascened iron scepter, khatvanga
Sino-Tibetan, 15th Century
The faceted shaft of octagonal section damascened in silver and gold with intricate bands of scrollwork, tapering towards the end and terminating in a ball-shaped intersection and half-vajra, with four prongs issuing from makara masks, the top with a corresponding half-vajra of slightly larger size above a silvered skull with gaping mouth baring the teeth, all finely damascened in gold alternating with silver to highlight the details
17 in. (43.5 cm.) long

拍品專文

Compare a similar example sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 6 November, 1997, lot 1068, together with an elaborated version depicting the four images of a decomposed head, a severed head, a skull and the vase of life. Another elaborated version bearing a Yongle mark (1403-24) is in the British Museum, London, see W. Zwalf (ed.), Buddhism, Art and Faith, 1985, pl. 307, pp. 211, where the author notes that a khatvanga can symbolize the 'Thought of Enlightenment' and might have been used for a rite of identification with a particular god.