S925 Silver Tibetan Buddhist Auspicious Beast Pendant

The names of these two pieces show traces of transliteration, and there is no Chinese beast they correspond to exactly. I will not invent an origin for them. The words printed on a label can be pronounced without any image necessarily standing behind them, and what a supplier writes on a tag is only a tag, not evidence of which tradition a figure belongs to. I would rather say that at the start. Most buyers choose from the picture, and a good picture is enough; the name is a marker, nothing more.

Tibetan auspicious beasts have a genealogy of their own, not the same list as the Chinese dragon, phoenix and qilin. Four are common on the wind-horse flags: garuda, dragon, snow lion and tiger, each holding a corner around the horse at the centre. Their division of labour is by direction rather than by rank. Murals beside monastery doors often show lions and garudas as well, the lion mostly as a protector and the garuda mostly as a breaker. Anyone raised on Chinese patterns will find them strange at first and will be able to tell them apart after a while. The four on the wind-horse flags are printed rather than embroidered, so the colours go quickly while the drawing underneath remains.

The pendant takes the head and chest only. The mask is enlarged in proportion, the muzzle pushed forward, the brow ridge pressed low, and a mane runs behind the ears. The bright surface is kept for the forehead and the bridge of the nose and everything else darkened, so there is modelling when you look at it from the front. A shape like this does not win on detail; it wins on outline, and a soft outline turns into a cat or a dog. A beast with a projecting muzzle looks best in profile and short from the front. Only when the brow is pressed low does the gaze turn fierce. The mane behind the ears is cut in clumps, which at this size reduce to undulation.

Go with a dark cord. Ink black, navy and dark brown all work, and red does too, since Tibetan colour does not avoid red. The pendant has weight, so avoid elastic cord, which cannot carry silver. The weight bears on the knot, so tie it firmly or it will slide. It is mostly bought by men, though a woman can wear it cleanly as well; it depends on the person. Tie the knot two fingers above the pendant so that it does not press when you wear a high collar.

Sweat collects in the hollows of the mask. Brush it once with a soft brush and clean water, rinse and dry, and do not leave water marks behind. Tarnish wipes off in the usual way; leave the black in the eye sockets and beside the nose, because that is the shadow that gives the features their form. Store it apart when it is off. The projecting muzzle is the part most easily knocked flat by other pieces, and once flattened it cannot be polished back.