Lot Essay
For another example of this type bearing a Yongle reign mark (1403-24), in the British Museum London, see W. Zwalf (ed.), Buddhism, Art and Faith, 1985, pl. 307.
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SINO-TIBETAN, EARLY 15TH CENTURY
Details
A gold and silver damascened iron scepter, khattvanga
Sino-Tibetan, early 15th Century
With a faceted shaft of octagonal section with scrolling tendrils finely damascened in silver and gold, 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 at the tips with four-pronged half-vajras, all intricately detailed and highlighted in gold, silver and copper
18.1/8 in. (46.1 cm.) long
Sino-Tibetan, early 15th Century
With a faceted shaft of octagonal section with scrolling tendrils finely damascened in silver and gold, 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 at the tips with four-pronged half-vajras, all intricately detailed and highlighted in gold, silver and copper
18.1/8 in. (46.1 cm.) long
Provenance
By repute given by the Chogyal of Sikkim, Sir Tashi Namgyal, to an English friend in the 1940s and later sold to the present owner.