Expert’s note: The present pebble probably served some kind of ritual purpose in an ancient culture, such as Sumer, Bactria, or Southern Arabia, as both quartzite and calcite were popular materials among lapidaries in the central Asian world during early antiquity. From there on it may at some point have found its way to the Pala Empire in Northeastern India, where it seems to have been skillfully worked and hollowed into a Kapala with cover, from thereon serving as the famous religious cult object during a time when Kapalas were still primitive in design, especially when compared to the more intricate examples that emerged only much later. From there it was likely brought to Tibet during the Chidar (Phyi dar) by traveling monks who then preserved it in a monastery, where it may have played an important ritual role for generations. What we know for sure is that in the 18^th century, a spinach-green jade stand was added, which is skillfully carved from the finest material and perfectly matched to the unregular base of the Kapala, probably at the Imperial Workshops in Beijing. Most likely, this stand was then presented to Tibetan leaders at the Qing Court as a personal gift, possibly even by Emperor Qianlong himself. The stand exhibits all the characteristics and qualities associated with Imperial Qianlong jade lapidaries and thus must be firmly dated to this period without a shadow of a doubt.

China, 1736-1795, the pebble probably much earlier. Of irregular pebble form, the exterior bearing a finely grained surface while the interior is superbly polished, the translucent white quartzite stone with attractive veins and a multitude of speckles in russet, brown, and black.

The spinach-green jade ‘lotus’ stand neatly carved with a shallow recess to hold the pebble in perfect equilibrium and encircled by meticulously detailed lappets and overlapping petals divided by a beaded bar. (3)

Provenance: From a private collector of Chinese jades in the United Kingdom, who over the last ten years has been supplementing the jade collection he inherited from his father, assembled in London during the 1970s.
Condition: Very good condition with expected old wear, mostly to the pebble, and natural imperfections including fine fissures and microscopic pits, few small nibbles and shallow chips along the edges, the cover with remnants of ancient ritual pigment. A fine, naturally grown patina to the pebble overall.

Weight: 1,901 g (the kapala) and 1,051 g (the stand)
Dimensions: Length 22 cm

In 1777, the Panchen Lama, a Tibetan religious leader second only to the Dalai Lama, presented a set of paintings illustrating the historical Buddha Shakyamuni and the six Buddhas that preceded him to the Qianlong Emperor. This sparked elaborate exchanges of gifts between the Qing Court and the lamas of Tibet, culminating with the Panchen Lama attending the celebration of the Emperor’s 70th birthday in 1780.

Considering this exchange of gifts between the Panchen Lama and the Qianlong Emperor, an interesting comparison can be made to a spinach-green jade alms bowl dated 1777, depicting the Seven Historical Buddhas and inscribed with psalms, in the Norton Gallery of Art, accession number 42.66, illustrated by S. C. Nott in An Illustrated Record of the Stanley Charles Nott Collection of Chinese Jades, Florida, 1942, p. 348, no. 67. This bowl was ordered to be made by the Qianlong Emperor as a direct result of a Tibetan scroll sent as tribute by the Panchen Lama, as recorded in an essay the Emperor composed in 1770 on the Seven Buddhas to be inscribed on a tablet for the newly finished Seven Buddha Pagoda Pavilion outside the Forbidden City, see 'The Eulogy on The Seven-Buddha-Tower Pavilion', Qifuota bei ji, recorded in Second Compilation of Imperial Writings, juan 30.

The kapala is a skull cup used as a ritual implement in both Hindu Tantra and Buddhist Tantra. It is one of the most important tantric cult objects in Tibetan Buddhism. It is used as an altar, consecration, and sacrificial object. The present box and cover is of elongated form and larger size compared to the commonly found bowls made of real skulls.

In Tibetan monasteries, a kapala is used symbolically to hold bread or dough cakes, torma, and wine instead of blood and flesh as offerings to wrathful deities, such as the ferocious Dharmapala, the defender of the faith. The dough cakes are shaped to resemble human eyes, ears, and tongues. The Kapala is made in the form of a skull, specially collected and prepared. It is elaborately anointed and consecrated before use.

In Hinduism, Kapalas are used mainly for esoteric purposes such as rituals. Among the rituals using Kapalas are higher tantric meditation to achieve a transcendental state of mind within the shortest possible time; libation to gods and deities to win their favor. Hindu deities that may be depicted with the Kapala include Durga, Kali, and Shiva, especially in his Bhairava form. The Kapalikas were an extinct sect of Shaivite ascetics devoted to the Hindu god Shiva dating back to the 8th century AD, which traditionally carried a skull-topped trident (khatvanga) and an empty skull as a begging bowl.

Quartzite is a metamorphic rock composed largely of granular quartz which is cemented by silica, forming a homogeneous mass of very high tensile and crushing strengths. It is sometimes confused with calcite, which is much softer. During the Paleolithic, quartzite was used for making stone tools. In ancient Egypt, it was frequently used for statues and sarcophagi, including that of Tutankhamun, and quartzite sculptures have also been found in Afghanistan (ancient region of Bactria) and the Yemeni highlands of Southern Arabia.

A feature of quartzite is that much of it does not take the even and glossy polish of the rest of the quartz family, tending towards a slightly more granular surface that, under a magnifying glass, is seen to be minutely pitted all over. It is also more susceptible to subsequent wear.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 2 October 2017, lot 3006
Price: HKD 4,660,000 or approx. EUR 620,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An important documentary Tibetan gilt-inscribed jade river pebble 'kapala' box and cover, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period, bestowed to the 8^th Dalai Lama, ca. 1783
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, albeit carved from jade and with a later soapstone stand. Note the inscriptions and the smaller size (14.6 cm).

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