The skull cup (kapala), symbolic of the transitory nature of existence, is an essential part of the Tantric tradition in Vajrayana Buddhism. Skulls are gathered from the charnel fields, or reportedly bequeathed by the monks themselves. They are never taken from living persons killed for the purpose of obtaining their skull. In the Chakrasamvara meditations, the practitioner or Yogin creates a mandala of impure substances, the five nectars and the five meats, in the skull cup. These meditational substances symbolize all the negativity possessed by that individual. The practitioner would then visualize boiling this negativity into a mercury-like elixir, into which a ritual staff (khatvanga) is melted. Once produced, the liquid is consumed, symbolizing the complete destruction of all negativities, and the practitioner is purified and, thus, prepared for the completion stage of the meditations. Unlike the other skull cup in LACMA’s collection (M.82.201a-c) that is made from a section of a human cranium, this skull cup is made entirely of gilt silver and silver. It is shaped like an upside down human skull with deep eye sockets and two rows of silver teeth, one on the edge of the cup and the corresponding set on the lid. In contrast to the plain body of the cup, the lid is exquisitely adorned with natural and cosmic symbols. The area over the jaw of the skull has a lotus rising from the cosmic waters. The center of the lid has a mandala with two receding circles. The other circle has a band of mountain peaks. The inner circle has a double　thunderbolt or double dorje (vishva vajras) surmounted by a five-pronged thunderbolt (vajra) that functions as the lid’s handle. The skull cup is supported by two grinning skulls in the front and a placid human or divine head in the rear.

• Pal, Pratapaditya.  Art of Tibet.  Los Angeles; Berkeley, CA:  Los Angeles County Museum of Art; University of California Press, 1983.
• Pal, Pratapaditya. "Art and Ritual in Buddhism." Asian Art vol. II, no. 3 (Summer 1989):  33-55.
• Pal, Pratapaditya. Art of Tibet. Expanded edition. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1990.
• McArthur, Meher.  Reading Buddhist Art: An Illustrated Guide to Buddhist Signs and Symbols.  London:  Thames & Hudson, 2002.
• Maxwell, Gail.  Visual Art for Meditation:  Resource Book.  Los Angeles: Museum Associates/Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2005.