This elegant stand was used as a pedestal for a ritual butter lamp (see M.78.23a and M.78.23b). Butter lamps are quintessential accoutrements of Tibetan altars and domestic shrines. They are made in the form of a chalice used as elite Western secular goblets and as consecrated drinking vessels in Christian liturgical services. The chalice form was likely adopted from Central Asian Christian communities in the 7th-8th centuries. Yak butter is traditionally burned in Tibetan butter lamps during their ritual usage.
The two large compartments in the cabinet open with hinged doors on the front, which are decorated with a floral trellis pattern and framed with a diaper pattern. They would have been used for storage, perhaps the butter lamp when it was not in active ceremonial use. The sides of the stand are adorned with propitious motifs. On one side are the Eight Auspicious Symbols: lotus, endless knot, golden fishes, parasol, victory banner, golden treasure vase, white conch shell, and wheel of the law. On the other side are the Eight Auspicious Substances: mirror, precious medicine, yoghurt, durva grass, bilva fruit, right-spiraling white conch, vermilion powder, and mustard seed. The top is unadorned. See Robert Beer, The Encyclopedia of Tibetan Symbols and Motifs (Boston: Shambala Publications, 1999), pp. 171-193.
