Sikkim Silver White Tara Ga’u Enclosing a Bhaisajyaguru Buddha (Tsa-Tsa)

This unusual and fully-enclosed ga’u box of arched form is made entirely from silver. On each side are two rectangular silver loops for suspension. It is from Tibet-influenced Sikkim, formerly a Himalayan kingdom, and now an Indian state.

The ga’u is decorated on the front in high relief with a crowned image of the White Tara. The deity is seated cross-legged on a lotus asana throne. Her left hand supports a lotus stem, the bloom of which rises from her left shoulder.

This example encloses a moulded clay image or tsa-tsa of the Bhaisajyaguru Buddha (Medicine Buddha) seated in full vajra posture, cross-legged on a lotus throne.

The tsa-tsa image retains traces of gilding and bluing in the hair. The reverse of the tsa-tsa is painted in gold with three syllables of Tibetan script.

Images of the Medicine Buddha often were found in the houses and offices of traditional Tibetan doctors who consider him the source of their knowledge and practice. In his left hand is a bowl of nectar, and in his right a myrobalan fruit – the universal remedy in Tibetan medical traditions and one of the main ingredients in Tibetan medical compounds.

Ga’u boxes were worn by men and women in Tibet and in other parts of the Buddhist Himalayas such as Sikkim as protective amulet cases. Usually, they were worn suspended from the neck. They would contain a variety of precious and protective items such as parchment inscribed with mantras, perhaps a small figure of a deity, and cloth from the robe of an esteemed monk.

Related boxes are illustrated in Ghose (2016, p. 55) and attributed to 18th century Bhutan. This is erroneous. No such boxes are known in Bhutan. Sikkim, in Himalayan India, is the correct designation. See also another related box at Bonhams, also erroneously attributed to Bhutan instead of Sikkim.

The ga’u here is small but heavy for its size, It has clear signs of age.