Tibetan Gau Box

Amulet Box (Ga’u)

Eastern Tibet, late 19th century

height: 12 cm, width: 14 cm, depth: 3.7 cm

This ga’u comprises two separate halves. It has plenty of patina and wear from having been worn. The front of the box comprises gilded brass open-work overlay over the front and two bands of brass strips finely engraved with a repeated floral motif along each of the four sides. The face is also augmented with a central silver button with a pearled silver edge. It holds two pieces of folded handmade paper, one stamped with the protective vajrayogini mandala and Tibetan script, and the other with a jewel motif and more Tibetan script.Ga’us were worn by Tibetans about the body and contained protective amulets such as relics and pieces of paper with written or stamped invocations or diagrams. The sale of such relics provided lamas and their monasteries with a steady income stream particularly as everyone used ga’us, from the very poor to each member of the nobility. Typically they were worn when the owner was travelling. For long or difficult journeys as many as a dozen might have been worn to face all directions to protect themselves from evil no matter what direction it might come.

References

A box of similar form and showing use of copper and brass is in Clarke, J., Jewellery of Tibet and the Himalayas, V&A Publications, 2004, p. 86.

Inventory no.: 41

SOLD