Description
Shaped like the upper portion of a human skull, this metal vessel was made for tantric Buddhist rituals involving the use of a skull cup to prepare and consume a sacred liquid identified with the nectar of enlightened bliss. Three feet in the form of skulls support the vessel; they relate to the imagery visualized during the preparation of the nectar, in which the cup sits upon a triangular fire with a head at each corner. Three more heads mark the rim of the vessel, a Newar convention. A Nepalese inscription around the body of the cup records its consecration in the year Samvat 524 (1404 C.E.) in honor Chakrasamvara, a wrathful male deity who would be invoked during the cup’s ritual use.
Results
