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Lot Essay
These ritual daggers were used during certain religious ceremonies. In fact the word phur is the Tibetan translation of the Sanskrit word kila literally meaning a nail or peg. The dagger is used to nail down negative forces and evil spirits to the ground but also to bind them. The knot just above the makara-heads stands for the binding element while the three-blade dagger nails the evil spirits to the earth. Most of these, like this ivory pair, are small and were placed on tables in front of the monk or lama executing the ceremony.
Phurbu pairs sculpted from ivory are extremely rare. Furthermore this pair represents an early type based on the rather square demon faces, their simple hairdo and the short trunks of the makara-heads. Perhaps they can even date back to the fifteenth century when Tibetan Buddhism flourished at the Chinese court of successive emperors.
Phurbu pairs sculpted from ivory are extremely rare. Furthermore this pair represents an early type based on the rather square demon faces, their simple hairdo and the short trunks of the makara-heads. Perhaps they can even date back to the fifteenth century when Tibetan Buddhism flourished at the Chinese court of successive emperors.