Tibetan Gilded Brass & Turquoise Man’s Amulet Hair Ornament

Made from gilded brass, turquoise cabochons and a hammered copper sheet back, this beautiful, well-worn, oval amulet ga’u box was intended for a man and to be worn in the hair. The form is based on those worn in the hair by male Government officials of the Fourth Rank and above in the Dalai Lama’s government in Lhasa. The box was worn in their braided hair on the top of the head as a symbol of their rank.

The upper part of the ga’u has a tube through which a hair braid was threaded. (The metal tube is supported by a wooden interior and this too has excellent wear.) The lower part features a vajra or stylised thunderbolt motif.

This particular example is either from Tibet or perhaps the Tibetan peoples of Sikkim or Ladakh in Himalayan India.

The example here is in fine condition and has an excellent patina. It has incredible wear from age and use. The wear to the suspension tube at the top of the box is very pronounced, as it is to the reverse of the lower dorje motif, which has actually been worn through.