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| Keywords: Tibetan - Portable Prayer Wheel - Walters 572285 - Profile.jpg Just as the Buddha symbolically turned the wheel of the Law when he preached his first sermon and taught the way to enlightenment at Sarnath India so pious Tibetan Buddhists literally rotate a wheel to earn the merit that will enhance the likelihood of enlightenment The Tibetan prayer wheel however is not an ordinary wheel but a cylindrical metal drum that rotates around an axis There are two such wheels those that are immovable and placed inside or outside a shrine and those that are carried by hand like this example It is not an uncommon sight to see a Tibetan constantly rotating the hand wheel and chanting a mantra as he or she walks in the same way the pious Catholics use their rosaries This particular example is a handsome ensemble of jadeite and silver inlaid with more jadeite turquoise and rubies Part of the handle is in silver chased with a foliate design reminiscent of Derge work but it could have been made elsewhere Therefore it is extremely difficult to be certain of the place of manufacture or the date of this work It could have been made somewhere in eastern Tibet of even Mongolia where such gem-embellished ritual implements have remained very popular Whatever its exact date or provenance it is an elegantly sumptuous and well-crafted object that was probably made for a wealthy and important patron century 17 18 silver green jadeite rubies turquoise cm 21 5 accession number 57 2285 21538 John and Berthe Ford Baltimore date and mode of acquisition unknown Walters Art Museum John Berthe Ford 2002 Desire and Devotion Art from India Nepal and Tibet in the John and Berthe Ford Collection The Walters Art Museum Baltimore; Birmingham Museum of Art Birmingham; Santa Barbara Museum of Art Santa Barbara; Albuquerque Museum Albuquerque 2001-2003 Pilgrimage and Buddhist Art Asia Society New York 2010 place of origin Mongolia Walters Art Museum license Tibetan art in the Walters Art Museum Prayer wheels Media contributed by the Walters Art Museum needs artist review | ||||
