A ritual bone apron

TIBET, 17TH/19TH CENTURY

Details

A ritual bone apron
Tibet, 17th/19th Century
The belt set with nine oblong plaques suspending a network of double-stranded beads joined by square plaques at the intersections, all carved with deities, auspicious symbols and stylized floral designs, the bottom rung carved with lion masks joined by festoons
Approximately 27 in. (68.6 cm.) high

Lot Essay

Compare another example dated to the 17th century, in the James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection, cf. P. Pal, A Collecting Odyssey, 1997, cat. no. 312; and P. Pal, Tibet, Tradition and Change, 1997, cat. no. 85, dated from the 16th-20th century, indicating that individual parts were replaced over time. Aprons of this type would have been worn by officiants for certain Tantric ceremonies, and in its standard design generally includes seven large pointed-elliptical bone plaques at the waist band.