Altar Bottle – Buddhist Ritual Vessel with Filigree

Altar Bottle with screw cap. The copper bottle is worked in filigree, silver-plated, set with colored stones. In Buddhist practice, fresh water is offered daily in a row of bowls placed on the altar, symbolizing purity and generosity.

The vessel is cylindrical in form, narrowing toward a short neck and closed with a domed screw cap.

The body is worked in filigree. Thin wire is bent into spirals, filled with small arched elements, and joined into an ornamental pattern. Bands of single set colored stones encircle the body. Drop-shaped and round stones are arranged into floral motifs set among the filigree. Arched strands of beaded wire end in small buds of colored stones. The domed screw cap is worked in the same technique, its top set with a central blossom of stones.

The bottle follows the established iconographic conventions of Vajrayana art in the Kathmandu Valley, in which form, ritual meaning, and ornament are brought together in a balanced composition.

Altar bottle

decorated with fine filigree, silver-plated, set with colored stones. Finish with red Vermillion powderh. Handcrafted in Nepal.

• Height: 24.5 cm
• Ø: 7.5 cm
• Weight: 550 g

NOTE
The bottle is a decorative ritual object and is not suitable for contact with food or for use as a drinking bottle. Only for cold water. The decoration differs slightly in detail from bottle to bottle.