Enquiry about object: 9531
Tibetan Gilded-Silver and Polished Iron Oracle’s Mirror
Tibet 18th century
diameter: 20cm, weight: 295g
Provenance
private collection, UK
This very fine Tibetan mirror (melor) and frame would have been worn by an oracle during Tibetan Tantric rituals.
The frame is of gilded (gold-plated) silver intricately repoussed in relief with scrollwork and inset with roundels of turquoise cabochons.
The use of silver is unusual. More typically, such frames are made from repoussed copper.
The frame holds a circular, convex, iron mirror.
An oracle’s mirror is not unlike a crystal ball in terms of function. The medium or oracle peers into the polished steel surface of the mirror and divines hidden signs and future events. Such mirrors were worn by oracles as breast plates. Hence, the reverse of the frame here is fitted with metal bands to allow it to be attached to chest belts so that the mirror could be worn.
An example – but without turquoise decoration – comprises lot 181, Christie’s New York, ‘Indian and Southeast Asian Art’, September 21, 2005. Another is illustrated in Thurman & Weldon (1999, p. 26) and Ghose (2016, p. 91).
The example here is in fine condition.
References
Ghose, M. (ed.), Vanishing Beauty: Asian Jewelry and Ritual Objects from the Barbara and David Kipper Collection, Art Institute of Chicago, 2016.
Heller, A., Tibetan Art: Tracing the Development of Spiritual Ideals and Art in Tibet, 600-2000AD, Jaca Books, 2000.
Lipton, B., & N.D. Ragnubs, Treasures of Tibetan Art: Collections of the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art, Oxford University Press, 1996.
Monasterios y Lamas del Tibet, Fundacion ‘la Caixa’, Barcelona, 2000.
Thurman, R., & D. Weldon, Sacred Symbols: The Ritual Art of Tibet, Sotheby’s/Rossi & Rossi, 1999.
