Description

Prices start from AU $165 FOR ONE PIECE ONLY. NOTE- our prices are in AUSTRALIAN DOLLARS which is significantly LESS in AMERICAN DOLLARS.

LOCATION- BRISBANE however POSTAGE DELIVERY can be easily arranged WORLDWIDE.

If you have any further questions, please SMS or phone us using the phone number given in our CONTACT section.

We currently have various of these brass animals including an elephant, pig, goat, lion, tiger and peacock. Some of these pieces are virtually NEVER seen eg. the pig, tiger and goat. I LOVE them all but my absolute favourites are the tiger and peacock. (The peacock and tiger hasn’t been photographed yet.)

Background Info and Provenance

The price here is for ONE Brass Tibetan Brass standing animal made entirely by HAND around 1900 in the Tibetan and Nepalese region. (Prices vary for each- enquire if you have further interest.) All of the pieces shown in the first photo are VERY hard to get. The lions very occasionally come up but the pig, goat and tiger are virtually never seen (I didn’t even know that the pig and goat existed until these came up- I got these overseas- they virtually are never seen in Australia. The detailing and craftsmanship / craftspersonship is inspiring to say the least- they are such impressive pieces.

These particular deities have been made since around 1880. Around the 1950’s the techniques and styling changed so that virtually all artefacts in this style were cast in brass (or other metals) with a mosaic-type finish (also done in the cast)- they’re NOT hand-decorated and most of them are not hand-created either. With the creation of this piece, flat pieces of metal were bent into the desired forms using simple tools and then welded together by fire to piece together these intricate and awe-inspiring pieces of art. Handicrafts like these from Tibet and Nepal developed over generations and were then handed down over centuries making these artisans experts in what they do. This is part of a long tradition even though items like this are basically extinct these days.

It’s hard to get a concept of exactly how long a piece like this would take to conjure up let-a-lone construct. With items getting churned out of factories by machines within seconds it’s difficult for us to picture someone sitting down for several DAYS or WEEKS to create a decorative piece that’s about 15 cm in size. I can’t see many Australian people these days being capable of sitting down long enough to see any project like this through to its end. Times have changed but items like this are still being made in Tibet and Nepal, though unfortunately much less than previously. When you look into the traditions of these countries it becomes easier to picture the people creating them. Meditation and becoming one with the Self is valued in these areas. Handicrafts like these form/formed part of their meditation. When these artisans were lost in creation they saw themselves as being at one with their Creator (with God or whatever you want to call it) so the end result (and making money from these) was never the reason they sat down to make them. As their skill in meditation and “one-pointed focus” developed so too did their artistic and handicraft abilities.

What intrigues me is one of the standing lions I have at the moment (NOT ANY OF THE PIECES SHOWN HERE)- is a little wonky and the head won’t fit on the body “nicely”. When I look at this piece it becomes plainly obvious how hard this piece would have been to create. The wonky piece all looks “right” to me but the artist must have lost focus somewhere in its creation (but I can’t see where!). Even that comment fascinates me … I see a Tibetan person on the steps of a temple, in the forest somewhere or outside a hut, forming parts of this piece and I’m immediately transported to another time and place.

An item like this is not so much about what it actually is but what it represents. I have two of these pieces “permanently” in my home- I find them very inspiring and often have them in my meditation space. They’re captivating in ways no modern piece is. I found my first one in an antique centre in Australia (it’s the only one I’ve ever seen here) and then soon found some others overseas. Today I’m captivated even more than when I stumbled across my first several years ago… Yes another description that’s on the long-winded side again but a story that I think needs to be told. These traditions need to be preserved and the only way to do that is to make some effort to get to know them.

One more thing, the filigree decoration that covers the outside … these small circular pieces of brass (or other metal) have been wrapped around a small rod, cut and welded by fire onto the animal form. You’ll notice they’re all “open” circles and there’s hundreds of them- each made singly BY HAND and then each “stone” also hand-formed (no two are exactly alike). Then a white paste was mixed up which was used to “glue” them inside the welded filigree. (I don’t know what the “stones” are made of … I read somewhere that the white pieces are onxy- marble but I haven’t found out what the red and blue pieces are. They’re likely to be glass.)

If you believe that art should come from the hands and hearts or people (and not machines) consider investing in HAND-MADE art. There’s no better way to invest in your home or reduce your carbon footprint. (Thank you to anyone who read this far … phew!) And one last thing. The head turns off and inside is hollow. I’ve read that this was to burn incense (the smoke comes out of the nose) but others have written that it allows you to write down your prayers and put them inside.

2303 1907 maybe

Many of the lions in the final photos have sold but I have one or two others available. Enquire if you have interest in these figures as I’m constantly trying to find them.