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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.
Page data
- Page
- 1
- Source index
- 0
- Type
- photo
- Media ID
- fa8b1ab7e30f5049
- Size
- unknown
Document data
- ID
- 15399
- Core
- obj
- Type
- object
DTO data
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"contentType": "object",
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"title": "Vessel in the Form of a Skull Cup",
"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.",
"provenance": "Acquired by Ian Alsop; purchased by John and Berthe Ford, Baltimore, June 10 1970; given to Walters Art Museum, 2016.",
"date": "1404",
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"dimensionsRaw": "H: 3 1/16 × W: 5 1/16 × D: 3 9/16 in. (7.8 × 12.8 × 9.1 cm)"
}
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Document identity
{
"localId": "15399",
"label": "Vessel in the Form of a Skull Cup",
"core": "obj",
"dtoType": "object",
"citationUrl": "https://purl.thewalters.org/art/54.3107"
}
Document source metadata
{
"id": "15399",
"sourceUrl": "https://purl.thewalters.org/art/54.3107",
"contentType": "object",
"stage": "normalized",
"title": "Vessel in the Form of a Skull Cup",
"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.",
"provenance": "Acquired by Ian Alsop; purchased by John and Berthe Ford, Baltimore, June 10 1970; given to Walters Art Museum, 2016.",
"date": "1404",
"citationUrl": "https://purl.thewalters.org/art/54.3107",
"rightsUri": "CC0",
"language": "en",
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],
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"thumbnailUrl": "https://art.thewalters.org/images/art/PS1_IL.2004.7.4_3QtrBack_DD_T08.jpg",
"largeImageUrl": "https://art.thewalters.org/images/art/PS1_IL.2004.7.4_3QtrBack_DD_T08.jpg",
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"dimensionsRaw": "H: 3 1/16 × W: 5 1/16 × D: 3 9/16 in. (7.8 × 12.8 × 9.1 cm)"
}
Document source extras
{
"inscriptions": "[Date] samvat 524; [Date] 1404; [Inscription] Partially illegible: ...consecrated in honor of Shakrasamvara and...",
"med": "copper alloy",
"creator_ids": [
"15526"
],
"collection_ids": [
"INT"
],
"exhibition_ids": [
"3456"
]
}
Page context
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