Kapala skull cap (9122)

A Tibetan Kapala skull cap mounted with a rim decorated with repeating skulls and four images of horned figures, possibly Yama the Lord of Death. 19 x 14 cm.

“The word kapala is a Sanskrit term meaning skull, bowl, vessel, begging bowl and a decorative human skull used as a ritual implement in both Hindu and Buddhist Tantra. The practice and conception of Tantra came into being in the 5th 6th century in India and then spread across southeast Asia. The skull bowls were often carved with decorative designs or elaborately mounted with precious metals or jewels. There are two main forms those that use a full skull and those that use only the cranium. In Tibetan monasteries the kapala was used to hold dough cakes or wine, used symbolically as flesh and blood offerings to deities of fearsome Hindu and Tibetan tradition. When symbolising blood it is called ‘Asrk kapala’ and when flesh it is called ‘Mamsa kapala’. This kapala is the cranium form, lined with silver and decorated on the rim with small silver skulls and with four images possibly Yama the lord of death in verdict mythology”.