A GROUP OF THREE GILT COPPER ALLOY AND SILVER RITUAL VESSELS

Tibet, 19th century

Tibet, 19th century
Comprising a ewer, stem cup, and offering bowl. (3)
Himalayan Art Resources item no.2358
9 1/2 in (24.1 cm) diameter of bowl
12 1/4 in (31.2 cm) height of ewer
4 1/8 in (10.5 cm) height of cup

The offering bowl has an inscribed underside in English:
E de R o/s/ No 13, 3 pieces; Libation set used in the service of the Eucharist. Altar piece from the Teng-gye-ling Monastery.

Tengye Ling was a Nyingma temple dedicated to Tseumar, and was one of the four institutions whose abbots could be selected to be Regent of Tibet. It was destroyed in 1914 following a difficult relationship between the monks, the Rinpoche, and Chinese forces that had entered Lhasa in 1910. For further discussion see Bell, The Religion of Tibet, Oxford, 1931, p.164. Thus the rare colonial inscription serves to cap the group's date of production prior to the temple's destruction.

Provenance
Private European Collection, acquired 1960s, by repute
Thence by descent