A Gold and Silver Damascened Iron Scepter, khattvanga

TIBET, 15TH CENTURY

Details

A Gold and Silver Damascened Iron Scepter, khattvanga
Tibet, 15th Century
The central section with crossed vajras surmounted by the vase of life, with slender overhanging leaves, a freshly severed head, a decomposing head and a skull, terminating with a four-pronged half-vajra, with a faceted shaft of octagonal section with scrolling tendrils finely damascened in silver and gold, the heads highlighted in gold, copper, and silver
17½ in. (44.4 cm.) long

Lot Essay

Compare a similar example sold in our New York rooms, 23 March 1999, lot 108. For another example, bearing a Yongle reign mark (1403-24), at the British Museum London, see W. Zwalf (ed.), Buddhism, Art and Faith, 1985, pl. 307.

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