Silver Ga’u Box with Tsa-tsa, Mongolia Tibet, early 20th century

Small Silver Ga’u Box with Tsa-tsa

Mongolia or Tibet

This small, fine ga’u or portable talismanic shrine or box is unusual in that all its sides are made of solid silver. The walls are thick too, so that the ga’u is heavy for its size and has a feeling of solidity and quality. Typically, only the front of a ga’u will be of silver; the other sides and especially the back will be of copper sheet. The fact that it is all of silver suggests a possible Mongolian provenance.

The form is of trefoil shape. The front has a small glass window over a gilded (gold-plated) panel chased with a dish of wish-fulfilling jewels. This panel is surrounded by a border of chased scrollwork.

There are two pairs of applied silver lugs to either side to allow the

ga’u to be worn around the neck.

The silver backing plate on the reverse fits tightly but slides out to reveal a pressed-clay

tsa-tsa and some talismanic cotton threads.

The

tsa-tsa – a relief-moulded clay votive tablet – has been impressed with a seated image of a deity, possibly the White Tara. Sometimes the soil or clay of a sacred place was collected and incorporated into the clay made to use tsha-tshas.Ga’us are encountered only in Tibet or areas influenced by Tibetan Buddhism, such as Mongolia and Bhutan. No other Buddhist regions have anything like them. They were worn when travel was undertaken but otherwise were stored on the domestic altar.

The example here is in fine condition. It is very wearable particularly because it is not too large.

Clarke, J., Jewellery of Tibet and the Himalayas, V&A Publications, 2004.

Meinert, C. (ed.),

Buddha in the Yurt: Buddhist Art from Mongolia, Vols 1& 2, Hirmer, 2011.

Pal, P.,

Art of the Himalayas: Treasures from Nepal and Tibet, Hudson Hills Press, 1991.

Proser, A., (ed.),

Pilgrimage and Buddhist Art, Asia Society Museum/Yale University Press, 2010.

private collection, Warsaw, Poland.