Ritual Dagger and Curved Knife

Description This unique and exquisitely crafted ritual object combines the Tibetan dagger with the curved knife. Animating the dagger is the power of the three deities whose faces (one with a horse's head above it) appear at the top: they destroy ignorance, desire, and hatred. The blade, which has the form of a butcher's flaying knife, cuts through ignorance and evil tendencies. The section opposite the curved blade has the shape of a "vajra" (thunderbolt).

Exhibitions

• Desire and Devotion: Art from India, Nepal, and Tibet in the John and Berthe Ford Collection. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara; Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque; Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham; Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong. 2001-2003.

Provenance Rudi Rudolph, New York City; purchased by John and Berthe Ford, Baltimore, 1969; given to Walters Art Museum, 2007.

Credit Gift of John and Berthe Ford, 2007