TIBET, 19TH/20TH CENTURY

Details

A GEM-SET RELIQUARY BOX (GAU)
TIBET, 19TH/20TH CENTURY
The body of thinly-hammered gold sheets, the lid with applied filigree decoration, the centre set with a colourless gemstone within turquoise stones, the corners set with further turquoise, flowerheads at the cardinal points comprising of pink and green gemstones and turquoise, with applied extensions along each side to resemble two imbricated squares, with loop fittings on four sides, the base in copper alloy and attaching to the lid with clips, slight dents but overall good condition
3 5⁄8 x 3 ¾in. (9.3 x 9.5cm.)

Provenance

By repute Maastricht, 1990s

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Sara Plumbly Director, Head of Department

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splumbly@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2374

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Lot Essay

A similar box is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (acc.no.15.95.97). There, it is described as a box intended to hold Buddhist mandalas, and suggested that it would have had protective qualities. They appear frequently in photographs taken by travellers in Tibet and North-West India in the 19th and early 20th centuries (see for example Oppi Untracht, Traditional Jewelry of India, London, 1997, fig.258)

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