TÊTE DE TRIDENT RITUEL EN FER ARGENTÉ ET LAITON TIBET ORIENTAL, VERS XVE SIÈCLETÊTE DE TRIDENT RITUEL EN FER ARGENTÉ ET LAITONTIBET ORIENTAL, VERS XVE SIÈCLEHimalayan Art Resources item no. 205013 78 cm (30 3/4 in.) highA SILVERED IRON AND BRASS RITUAL TRIDENT HEAD EASTERN TIBET, CIRCA 15TH CENTURY 藏東 約十五世紀 鐵鎏銀飾銅三叉戟 The trident, or three-pronged spear, was one of the earliest ritual implements to be adopted into Buddhism, indicated by its depiction on the stone gateways leading up to the Great Stupa of Sanchi in Central India. Originally one of the many attributes associated with the Hindu god Shiva, the trident was reinterpreted to symbolize the Three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. As a tantric weapon, the three blade points represent the destruction of the three poisons consisting of passion, aggression, and ignorance. At the center of the shaft is a highly unusual element of a knot modelled with three brass heads; a skull which sits over the symbol A, a wrathful face which sits over a visvavajra, and a bodhisattva who sits over a kalasha. Showing a similar curled design at the base of the prongs is a trishula illustrated in Henss, Buddhist Ritual Art of Tibet, Stuttgart, 2020, fig. 221. Published:Deborah Ashencaen and Gennady Leonov, Visions of Perfect Worlds: Buddhist Art from the Himalayas, Spink & Son Ltd., London, 1999, p. 71, no. 40.Ramon Prats, et.al., Monasterios y lamas del Tibet, Madrid, Fundación "La Caixa", 2000, p. 99, no. 8.Natalie Bazin, Rituels tibétains: Visions secrètes du Vème Dalaï Lama, Paris, 2002, p. 144, no. 103.Exhibited:Monasterios y lamas del Tibet, Fundación "La Caixa", Madrid, November 2000-January 2001.Rituels tibétains: Visions secrètes du Vème Dalaï Lama, Musée Guimet, Paris, 6 November 2002 - 24 February 2003.Provenance:Spink & Son Ltd., London, 1999