Butter Tea Bowl (Tsampa)
ClassificationsFurnishings-Serviceware-bowls
Date19th to 20th Century
Made AtTibet Autonomous Region, China, Asia
MediumWood and silver
Dimensions3 1/8 × 7 1/16 in. (7.9 × 17.9 cm)
Credit LineGift of Anne and Long Shung Shih
Object number2021.8.20
DescriptionThis bowl is used for the drinking of yak butter tea (po cha). Butter tea, which is made simply by melting butter into boiling pu-erh black tea, is an important part of daily life for Tibetans, and is consumed for both practical and ceremonial purposes. In the cold, mountainous regions of Tibet, the yak butter in the tea provides necessary warmth, fat, and caloric intake, and the butter is also said to prevent chapped lips. The yak butter itself is held in high regard by Esoteric Buddhists, so Tibetan monks also frequently drink butter tea, and butter lamps are constantly kept lit in monasteries and many home altars to symbolize wisdom and aid in meditation. Tea bowls such as this one are made from a hard burl wood and are lined with silver because it leaves no aftertaste and is considered second only to gold on the Buddhist scale of purity versus pollution.On View
Not on viewCollections
19th to 20th Century
19th to 20th Century
20th Century
20th Century
mid to late 19th Century
960-1279 CE
mid to late 19th Century
1644-1911
mid-late 20th Century
early 20th Century