THREE BRONZE CEREMONIAL TEMPLE BELLS
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE GERMAN COLLECTION
South India and Tibet, 19th century

Comprising two South Indian ritual bells, both with a typical stepped conical base, surmounted by a ringed shaft, one bell terminating in Vishnu's flaming conch shell and with a Tamil inscription around the base, 25cm high, and the latter terminating in Hanuman, 19.5cm high; and the third bell in typical Tibetan style, the shaft presenting a ring surmounted by a Tantric form of Shiva and his vajra, the bell itself engraved with Tibetan characters and a band of kirtimukha masks breathing out garlands of flowers and foliage, a continuous band of miniature vajras to the base, 19cm high.