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THB19th C. Tibetan Skull Kapala w/ Bronze & Eroticism
Lot 134
About Seller
Artemis Gallery
686 S Taylor Ave, Ste 106
Louisville, CO 80027
United States
Selling antiquities, ancient and ethnographic art online since 1993, Artemis Gallery specializes in Classical Antiquities (Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Near Eastern), Asian, Pre-Columbian, African / Tribal / Oceanographic art. Our extensive inventory includes pottery, stone, metal, wood, glass and textil...Read more
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Live Auction in Progress ... Currently on Lot Estimate:
$1,400 - $2,000
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About Auction
Live
By Artemis Gallery
Oct 31, 2019
Set Reminder
2019-10-31 10:00:00
2019-10-31 10:00:00
America/New_York
Bidsquare
Bidsquare : Fine Antiquities, Asian, Ethnographic Art
https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/fine-antiquities-asian-ethnographic-art-4581
Our Halloween Day auction features classical antiquities, ancient and ethnographic art from cultures encompassing the globe, plus fine art. Artemis Gallery info@artemisgallery.com
Our Halloween Day auction features classical antiquities, ancient and ethnographic art from cultures encompassing the globe, plus fine art. Artemis Gallery info@artemisgallery.com
View Full Catalog (467)
- Lot Description
Central Asia, Tibet, ca. 19th century CE. A lovely ritual drinking vessel known as a kapala, formed from a hollow human skullcap. The interior rim is lined with a hammered bronze sheet, and the top bears intricate foliate motifs as well as a pair of red beads and a pair of turquoise fragments. The top bears the erotic image of a harem consisting of four nude women and a nude man in a kneeling position. Fine patina envelops each component of this vessel. Size: 7.4" L x 5.875" W (18.8 cm x 14.9 cm); 7.4" H (18.8 cm) on included custom stand.
These beautiful objects are often made from skulls stripped of their flesh in sky burials, the compassionate Buddhist offering of the dead human form to local birds and other animals. Kapala and other ceremonial objects made from bone are part of the Tantric practice of reflection upon decay and the corruption of the corporeal form, as well as the desire to destroy the duality of attractiveness versus repulsion. Monks and yogis in this religion often meditate in graveyards or near the mountaintop sites of sky burials, surrounded by the unavoidable physicality of death. Although kapala may look to outside viewers like a disturbing fixation upon the grave - with much of Vajrayana Buddhism iconography focused on blood, corpses, and bones - they are actually a deliberate attempt to destroy the karmic hindrances that might bind a soul to this earthly life and prevent it from achieving enlightenment.
Provenance: private J.H. collection, Beaverton, Oregon, USA
All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
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#149658Minor nicks to interior and rim, with age-commensurate ossification along top and underside, softening to some finer details, light encrustations within some recessed areas, and losses to some stones around rim. Light earthen deposits and great patina throughout.Condition
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