Tibetan Round Ga’u Box with Gold & Silver

This well-made, larger-than-most Tibetan amulet or ga’u box comprises a silver front set with 12-14 carat gold plaques, sides that are half of silver and the rest in copper, and a tightly-fitting brass backing plate.

It is round with a central ‘window’ that would have had an internal glass covering and in which a deity, probably of painted clay, would have been displayed.

The silver front has been beautifully worked in unusually high relief with typically Tibetan swirling motifs. Eight separated applied plaques of 12-14 carat solid gold have been spaced equally around the silver front. These are the Eight Precious Things: the Precious Parasol, the White Conch, the Two Golden Fish, the Knot of Eternity, the Vase of Great Treasures, the Victory Banner, the Lotus Flower and the Eight-spoked Wheel of Buddhist Law.

The silver part of the sides is engraved with a wide key-fret border.

There is a rectangular suspension loop on each side. Both are engraved finely with scrollwork and key-fret borders.

Ga’u boxes were worn by men and women in Tibet and in other parts of the Buddhist Himalayas 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 and cloth perhaps from the robe of an esteemed monk.

The box is in excellent condition.