- Title
- Ritual Skull Cup with Lid and Stand
- Date Made
- circa 1900-1950
- Medium
- Human skull, repoussé copper electroplated with silver, and cast brass electroplated with silver; inset animal bone; interior with silver fittings and turquoise
- Dimensions
- Stand: 3 11/16 x 6 1/8 x 6 3/16 in. (9.3663 x 15.5575 x 15.7163 cm)
8 3/4 × 6 1/8 × 7 in. (22.23 × 15.56 × 17.78 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.82.201a-c
- Collecting Area
- South and Southeast Asian Art
- Curatorial Notes
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.
This skull cup is made from a section of an actual human cranium, The interior is lined with silver on the sides. In the center is a silver lotus medallion inlaid with turquoise. The exterior rim is ringed by a row of grinning skulls made of bone set in silver. The lid is openwork repoussé copper electroplated with silver in the form of two writhing dragons and two precious jewel clusters risinig out of swirling water with precious jewel terminals. The lid is surmounted by a five-pronged thunderbolt (vajra) made of cast brass electroplated with silver. The triangular stand on which the skullcup rests has three large skulls at the corners and ocean waves replete with precious jewels on the upper sides. The lower part of the stand is a double lotus base. The flat base is triangular and has stylized water motifs on the top, geometric designs on the sides, and a coil border on the bottom edge. See also M.79.243.4a-b.
- Selected Bibliography
- Little, Stephen, and Tushara Bindu Gude. Realms of the Dharma: Buddhist Art across Asia. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2025.
- Selected Exhibition History
- Ritual Offerings in Tibetan Art. Saturday, September 13, 2014 - Sunday, October 25, 2015
- Ritual Offerings in Tibetan Art. Saturday, September 13, 2014 - Sunday, October 25, 2015