Offering box — Box for Religious Offerings, Bhutan, 19th century or earlier

Offering box in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (museum number IM.257-1927), made in Bhutan, dated 19th century or earlier. The museum's brief description reads: Offering box, silver and silver-gilt, chased, repoussé and openwork, inset with turquoise, Bhutan, 19th century or earlier. Museum description: Offering-box, of silver, repoussé, pierced and chased: inset on the boss of the cover with a disc of turquoise. The box is probably intended to contain rice for Lamaist ritual purposes. It is of depressed globular shape and opens in two equal halves, which are secured at the back by a pin-hinge and in front by a hasp and eye. The outer casing is richly ornamented with flamboyant leafy stems and trefoil fillets, amid which and placed at regular are the following series of symbols in silver-gilt on a silver ground. On the cover, a central lotus-boss with turquoise seed-capsule, surrounded by the symbols of the Five Sensous Offerings and of the Seven World-ravishing Gems. On the body are the Eight Glorious Emblems. On the bottom of the box is a finely-designed device of four swirling curved leaves, chased and punched, a kind of Tetragram or fourfold Yin-yang symbol. The inner casing, which serves as backing to the openwork of the outer casing, is of plain hammered silver. The museum records it as Silver and silver-gilt, repoussé, chased, pierced, hammered, punched and openwork; inset with turquoise., measuring Height 9.2 cm; Diameter 17.6 cm. These details come from the museum's own record; how far this object represents a wider collectible type has not yet been independently verified.