Socket from a Ceremonial Spearhead or Staff, Decorated with the Name of the Fourth Dalai Lama
This socket appears to be the only known piece of ironwork with a dual language dedicatory inscription in Tibetan and Mongolian. The upper half is encircled by eleven horizontal lines of Tibetan, alternately damascened in gold and silver. The lower half has fourteen vertical lines of Classical Mongolian, mostly in silver, but with certain words highlighted in gold. The inscription is dedicated to Yonten Gyasto (1589–1617), the Fourth Dalai Lama, who was the great grandson of the Mongol ruler Altan Khan. It also identifies the donor as Sodnam Ombu Taiji, one of the most powerful noblement of Inner Mongolia at the time.
Artwork Details
- Title: Socket from a Ceremonial Spearhead or Staff, Decorated with the Name of the Fourth Dalai Lama
- Date: ca. 1607–17
- Culture: Tibetan or Mongolian
- Medium: Iron, gold, silver
- Dimensions: L. 11 3/4 in. (29.8 cm)
- Classification: Shafted Weapons
- Credit Line: Purchase, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Gift, 2005
- Object Number: 2005.301.1
- Curatorial Department: Arms and Armor
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Tibetan or Mongolian
possibly 12th–14th century
Tibetan or Chinese
14th–16th century
Tibetan or Mongolian
late 15th–early 17th century
Tibetan or Chinese
14th–15th century
Tibetan
barrel, probably 18th–19th century; stock and other fittings, probably mid-19th–early 20th century
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