Large, Rare Tibetan Tortoiseshell Plaque Carved with Manjushri

This large plaque is of carved tortoiseshell carapace -it is well carved on one side with a large image of the Bodhisattva Manjushri, the divine embodiment of wisdom, seated cross-legged in vajraparyankasana on a lotus dais.The deity is shown with his right hand holding aloft a flaming sword intended to cut through ignorance and delusion. His left hand is in vitarkamudra, a gesture of argument. Above his left shoulder is a stalk and uptala flower on which rests the text of the Prajnaparamita Sutra (the sutra of the Perfection of Wisdom).

Manjushri wears a low crown of five points; ample, circular earrings; ribbons about his shoulders and flowing aloft from behind his knees.

The engraving is quite deep and has been darkened with black pigment.

It has been made from the underside of the tortoise’s shell – the part which is flat and which protects the animal’s body from below, rather than the domed, upper section of the shell.

The plaque has splendid patina and wear from ritual handling. We have not seen a plaque from tortoise shell like this before, not has one been published of which we are aware. The shell most probably was traded in from India and would have been an expensive good at the time.

The plaque is in an excellent, stable condition.